We refer to the letter from Clare Cochrane headlined, 'Old buses seriously uncomfortable', which appeared in the South China Morning Post, on August 14. Regarding your correspondent's comments about Route 9 to Shek O, we hope that she will appreciate that, unlike the roads used for bus operations in most typical cities, those on Hong Kong Island are particularly narrow, sloped and in some places steeply curved. In fact, such is the extent of the road infrastructure limitations that we have been obliged to customise our bus fleet profile in order to suit the various different routes. For routes such as Nos 9 and 309 (Shek O to Shau Kei Wan and Shek O to Central respectively), we required our vehicle manufacturers to engineer a unique short-wheel-base version of the double-deck, low-floor, air-conditioned bus in order to suit our specific purposes. Due to the necessary design lead-times for this product's development, the world's first such vehicle has only just been built. In fact, it will be October or November at the earliest before we can fully retire those old vehicles that have been faithfully and safely plying routes such as No 9 on a daily basis for some 20 years now. Notwithstanding the reliable service of these old buses, we would be the first to admit that their comfort and ride quality falls far below the standard to which our customers have become accustomed. Under the circumstances, we hope that Ms Cochrane will accept that we are totally committed to providing the highest quality of service to the residents of Shek O. By the end of the year, New World First Bus will have placed 500 new buses into service since it commenced operation in late 1998. The fact that Shek O residents will be amongst the last to enjoy the benefits of this significant investment has been unfortunate, but we trust they will understand why this is the case. KIAN NG Public Affairs Manager New World First Bus
