Bus company KMB bids to increase fares by 8.5pc
Loss-making bus operator applies to government for increase from next year, citing high fuel costs and rising wages
KMB has applied to the government for an 8.5 per cent fare increase next year, after it lost HK$12.5 million in the first six months of the year.
Managing director Edmond Ho Tat-man said 70 per cent of the company's 400 bus routes were running at a loss, which he largely attributed to high fuel prices and a significant increase in wages and other operating expenses.
The proposed fare rise works out to an average 53 HK cents per trip.
Ho said he hoped the extra income could allow the company to break even next year. The operator last raised its fares in August last year - by 3.6 per cent, lower than the 8.6 per cent it wanted. Ho said he was aware the rise would affect a lot of passengers but said the demand was reasonable.
Citybus and New World First Bus said they had no immediate plans to raise fares.
"Since the last fare increase application, international fuel prices have risen by about 40 per cent, while wages have seen a cumulative rise of 9 per cent," Ho said. The two expenses accounted for 70 per cent of the company's operating costs in the first half of the year.