Octopus card helps ease small change problem

We refer to the letter headlined, 'Coin shortage making bus trip a pricey option', by Reiner Zimmerman (South China Morning Post, December 11).

We are sympathetic to the situation Mr Zimmerman, as well as other Citybus customers, face. However, all our fares are set according to a scale based on journey distance. Hence, it would be socially unacceptable to round up all charges to the nearest dollar or 50 cents.

The timely launch of the Octopus smart-card system will offer some relief.

During the initial stage, 20 per cent of our bus fleet on eight Cross-Harbour Tunnel routes (including routes 103, 107, 118, 170, 171, 182, 917 and 930) was equipped with the Octopus system. We have also introduced the system experimentally on the Hong Kong Island route 12M (between Park Road and Admiralty) recently, with plans to equip route 12A (between Macdonnell Road and Admiralty) very soon. The whole network of routes to the new airport will also be Octopus-equipped from next April.

Both our customers and ourselves are happy with the new system so far. Ultimately, we would like to extend the system to our entire network as soon as possible, but before we commit to this, we must be absolutely satisfied with the integrity, reliability and cost-effectiveness of Octopus and we hope to be in a position to take a major decision soon.

To be fair, there are a myriad of causes for the alleged coin shortage, and it is quite unjust to blame the bus companies.