Hong Kong may offer subsidies for switch to electric buses to keep fares low, environment minister says
- Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan says high costs and selecting right type of vehicles are biggest challenges in push for public transport to go electric
- Minister says government will not rule out possibility of providing subsidies to transport firms as part of plan to introduce about 700 electric buses by end of 2027
Hong Kong’s bus firms could be offered government subsidies to offset the impact on fares when the companies switched to electric vehicles, the environment minister on Wednesday said.
The two biggest challenges authorities faced when introducing more eco-friendly public transport were high costs and selecting suitable vehicles, Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan told a radio programme.
Last week, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said in his policy address that the government would promote green transport through plans to introduce about 700 electric buses, as well as 3,000 taxis, by the end of 2027.
“We do not rule out the possibility of providing subsidies [to bus companies],” Tse said. “But apart from that, we are also exploring ways to help them increase profit.”
While electric buses had become cheaper compared with a decade ago, they would be “significantly” more costly to introduce than the standard diesel ones, he added.
The minister also pointed to costs such as the installation of fast-charging stations for transport operators, saying the charge points could be rented to private drivers and electric taxis when they were idle.
“We are exploring a number of ways in which we can prevent the cost from becoming higher fares for the public,” he said. “We will continue to discuss this thoroughly with the bus companies.”
