THE continued poor performance of China Motor Bus (CMB) has jeopardised the renewal of its franchise, the Secretary of Transport, Haider Barma, said yesterday.
'Their franchise is due to expire next September and we have to think about the future of it,' he said.
'Performance is one factor we will be looking at when we do the final review and there is plenty of room for improvement.' The Government is hoping its new performance-related penalty system, based on public complaints, will encourage CMB to improve performance on its own. Fines start at $50,000 and increase to more than $100,000. No company has been fined so far.
Mr Barma said the double-punch of heavy fines and the whittling away of CMB's routes was the strongest measure the Government was prepared to take at the moment.
Last summer, the Government, unhappy with the quality of CBM's service, awarded 26 Hong Kong island routes to Citybus, which bought 40 buses to cover the schedules.
The Government and CMB are currently in the preliminary rounds of negotiating CMB's two-year franchise which expires on August 31, 1995.
