I thank Mark Savelli of Citybus for responding in these columns on October 14, to my letter (South China Morning Post, October 8), calling for a better bus service for the Jardine's Lookout area. I cannot accept his explanation that the unsatisfactory timetable was in place because the company inherited it from another company, which we all know is China Motor Bus (CMB).
CMB was kicked off route 511 a year ago, and many others, for having failed to provide acceptable services. Bus operators who do not provide an acceptable service should not be in the business. The Government has clearly demonstrated this when this route was given to Citybus.
But does it take a year to correct a timetable which even Citybus itself admits is not satisfactory? If it cannot do anything about this, maybe it should be given to Kowloon Motor Bus, or a fourth bus company. Citybus has shown that it is incapable of providing a service.
Where are the government watchdogs who are supposed to look after public transport? What have they been doing all this time? Is this the work of our so-called good civil service? Citybus should now tell us when it will merge route 511 with No 11 and how it is going to merge it. I suggested merging, but I expected it to put some thought into it instead of just scrapping 511.
Route 511 with its coach service should stay. Route 11 should take in the roads mentioned within the almost two-hour breaks when No 511 buses serve these areas.
This way the company could attract passengers who are now clogging minibuses and taxis.