LettersHong Kong needs to start charging all bus passengers by distance
Readers discuss the decision to revise the HK$2 public transport fare scheme, and the potential of student clubs at universities
Shenzhen has a tap-on/tap-off system for buses, charging by distance on many routes, as do Seoul and Tokyo. Taipei charges passengers based on sections.
Hong Kong has the technology: the MTR works this way. Why not apply this to buses? The government shrugs it off as a commercial decision. Is this acceptable for a city that calls itself innovative?
Elderly and disabled passengers do not board express buses for a few stops out of cunning. They do so because the heat, rain or their physical condition makes walking impractical. Operators tend to flood cross-harbour routes with buses – every five to nine minutes in at least one case – during peak hours while neglecting local services. Residents at So Uk Estate board a HK$12.20 cross-harbour route just to reach Sham Shui Po MTR station a few stops away because no more convenient local alternative exists.
Nor do they slow services. On routes like the 59X, an elderly passenger alights in seconds; the bus then idles a minute while boarding commuters file on. The bottleneck is in getting on, not off.