5 bus firms get green light for ‘affordable’ fare rises
Five franchised bus companies have been given approval to raise fares by the government’s key decision-making body, with passengers on most routes paying less than HK$1 extra from the middle of next month.
Announcing the decision yesterday, transport chief Lam Sai-hung called the fare increases of between 3.9 per cent and 7 per cent “gentle” and “affordable”, adding that the government had considered the bus firms’ growth arising from new development areas and society’s return to post-pandemic normality in approving the applications.
The increases take effect on June 18.
“The government has always adopted an extremely prudent attitude in dealing with bus companies’ applications for fare increases,” Lam said.
“This time the fares have been slightly adjusted. On the one hand, it can improve the financial situation of the bus companies … on the other hand, there will be room to improve employees’ salary levels and working environment.”
He said the bus companies should make use of the increment to improve their services and buy more and newer environmentally friendly vehicles.
Eighty-seven per cent of passengers are expected to pay no more than 50 HK cents extra per trip, and almost all users less than HK$1, according to the government.
Passengers using Citybus and New World First Bus, sister companies that will be merged into a single firm called Citybus Limited in July, will see fares rise by 4.9 per cent on average. Fares of KMB, the city’s biggest bus firm, will increase by 3.9 per cent on average.
Prices for Long Win Bus and New Lantao Bus will increase by 4.2 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively.
The fare rises were below the increases all five firms had requested, with Long Win Bus and New Lantao Bus seeking nearly 10 per cent.
The fare increase proposals sparked worries over affordability for commuters, with lawmakers and concern groups saying the requested rises were unreasonably high amid a post-Covid economic downturn.
Transport providers earlier attributed the decision to higher operating costs and falling passenger levels due to the pandemic.
KMB recorded a post-tax loss of HK$4.7 million for 2022, compared with a HK$101.4 million profit the year before, according to the annual report of its parent company, Transport International Holdings. Fare revenue was HK$5.77 billion in 2022, 8.2 per cent lower than the previous year, while ridership fell by 9.6 per cent to 805.4 million passenger trips over the same period.
Bravo Transport, the parent company of Citybus and New World First Bus, has yet to release its financial results for 2022.
Lawmaker Ben Chan Hanpan, chairman of the Legislative Council’s transport panel, expressed concern over the pressures that franchised bus companies were facing.
“Most organisations are facing financial difficulties, especially after the opening of multiple railway lines,” said Chan, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong.
While authorities could promote policies that benefited rail, they should also ensure other forms of public transport did not suffer, he added.
The Democratic Party said it was “unsatisfactory” for bus companies to pass their financial difficulties onto residents and pointed to the findings of a survey of 887 respondents it conducted last month.
“The public is dissatisfied with the service of the bus companies,” said Nicholas Hon Chun-yin, the party’s spokesman for transport policy. “More than half of the respondents believed that the government should take back the franchise rights of the poorly managed bus companies, and half were dissatisfied with the services of the current franchised bus companies.”