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SCMP Reporter

Petition asks department to save transport service

Discovery Bay residents angry at the possible demise of the community's flexible hire-car service  are petitioning the Transport Department to find a way to allow it to continue.

The Transport Department has ruled that the service violates permit requirements, after a complaint was lodged last year.

HKR International,  which runs the hire cars under Discovery Bay Transit Services Limited  (DBTSL), released a notice to residents  last month announcing the possible termination of the service in two months, saying compliance with the department's regulations would render the hire-car system 'completely untenable'.

Such conditions require hire cars, which offer point-to-point service in Discovery Bay, to transport only passengers who make single bookings in advance, effectively barring ride sharing and unscheduled pickups.

The main advantage of the service is its flexibility, said some residents of Discovery Bay, where cars and taxis are banned.  It operates likes the minibus system on Hong Kong Island.

'It's very easy to just step out, wave one down, in you get, and off you go,' said three-year resident Nic Corry.

Resident Lau Keung-yan disagreed, saying the system 'defeats the purpose' of the hired cars, which are too busy transporting passengers who flag them down at random to serve the parents and wheelchair-bound passengers who need them.

The petition, an effort spearheaded by two local Village Owners' Committee chairmen, asks the department to 'reconsider its ruling, so as to allow the continued operation of the hire-car service' or 'offer an acceptable alternative'.

In a letter to residents  on Friday, the department said its warning to DBTSL was meant to remind it to comply with rules on booking and touting.

'We would like to make it crystal clear that we have never requested nor directed DBTSL to cancel the hire-car service,' the letter said.

Douglas Louden,  Discovery Bay general manager for HKR International, said the company is exploring options short of cancelling the service, but a shutdown  is possible.

'A  service that complies [with the rules]  isn't tenable for the residents,' he said. 'It's just not going to give them what they want.'

According to HKR International, the capacity of the hire-car system, which Mr Louden estimates serves 50,000 people a month, would decline 80 per cent to 90 per cent if the company is forced to follow the Transport Department conditions.

Lisa Temple-Ashmore, who chairs  an owners' committee, said residents, especially those with children or emergencies, rely on the flexibility of the current hire-car system.

'Sixteen-thousand people live in this community, and we are very dependent on the transport infrastructure,' she said. 'And the hire car is a very important part of that because it has a flexibility that helps people.'

Ms Lau said reintroduction of the roomier shopper bus would be the most desirable option and that residents should work through Islands district councillor Amy Yung Wing-sheung  to find a solution. 'I think it would be good to have someone more representative,' Ms Lau said, adding the petition did not represent her views or those of all residents.

Ms Yung said she is working closely with residents and the department to discuss possible alternatives.

'We've also talked about whether the department can have a waiver because of the uniqueness of Discovery Bay,' Ms Yung said.

The department said in its  letter that it had proposed  alternatives to DBTSL's appeal for a waiver.



Discovery Bay fights to keep hire cars