Transport officials have switched off to passengers' needs

Passengers are concerned about the reduced competition arising from the merger of Hong Kong's two main bus companies - and with good reason.

When China Motor Bus was the only bus company on Hong Kong island, its drivers were rude, vehicles were dilapidated and some journeys rivalled roller-coaster rides. Competition between New World First Bus and Citybus - the proposed merger partners - seems to have partially contributed to a better transport service.

Some recent developments in the franchised bus sector have also shown that the three bus franchisees have ignored customer feedback. An even smaller number of bus franchises could mean that more passengers' complaints will not be addressed.

Many passengers have complained about the Siberian-like temperatures in air-conditioned buses and the noise from TVs. None of the three companies has addressed these complaints satisfactorily.

Winnie Ng, managing director of bus advertising firm RoadShow, this month likened complaints about the noise from the onboard TVs to those which accompanied the Kowloon Motor Bus company's conversion of most of its fleet to air-conditioned vehicles.

Ms Ng, who is also a KMB director, said that 'some people inevitably don't like the services' and, therefore by implication, the bus operator could ignore their voices after it had 'tried hard to satisfy passengers' needs'. Suppose in a camera shop you ask for a model with basic functions at a relatively low price and are told that only more expensive models with sophisticated features are available. If you do not want to pay for something you have no need for, you can simply go elsewhere.