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The city’s franchised bus companies have called for fare increases following hefty losses in recent years. Photo: Sam Tsang

Hong Kong official vows to slam brakes on sky-high bus fares after lawmakers express outrage at proposal

  • Pledge by transport deputy minister Ida Lee comes as legislators slam ‘shockingly high’ proposed fare rises by city’s franchised bus companies
  • ‘We will assess the applications prudently. We will be a gatekeeper to carefully examine the applications,’ Lee says

Hong Kong’s transport authorities have vowed to act as a “gatekeeper” against any exorbitant fares proposed by franchised bus companies after lawmakers expressed outrage over calls for price rises of up to 50 per cent.

Deputy Secretary for Transport and Logistics Ida Lee Bik-sai made Friday’s pledge as members of the industry’s Legislative Council panel slammed the “shockingly high” proposed increases.

The lawmakers also called for the government to help bus operators find ways to boost their revenues beyond collecting service fees and resolve the fare adjustment mechanism’s outstanding structural issues to prevent erratic price increases.

Hong Kong’s franchised bus firms push for fare increases of up to 50 per cent

Under the current system, franchised bus fares are not adjusted annually like passenger fees under the MTR Corporation and must be approved by the Executive Council, the city’s key decision-making body.

“Right now we’re still making an assessment of the fare rise applications. We haven’t made a conclusion yet but we won’t necessarily approve the proposed increases,” Lee said.

The deputy minister added that authorities would consider various factors, such as public affordability and companies’ operating costs, before making a decision.

But Lee also stressed that they would need to balance such factors with the financial sustainability of the transport operators.

“The public bus service is very integral to people’s livelihoods. We will assess the applications prudently. We will be a gatekeeper to carefully examine the applications,” she said.

Deputy Secretary for Transport and Logistics Ida Lee. Photo: Edmond So

The companies applying for the fare increases are KMB, the city’s largest bus operator, sister company Long Win Bus, as well as New Lantao Bus, Citybus and New World First Bus.

KMB, Long Win Bus and New Lantao Bus are seeking to raise fees by 9.5 per cent, 8.5 per cent and 9.8 per cent, respectively.

Citybus and New World First Bus, both owned by Bravo Transport, have asked for a flat fare increase of HK$2 (25 US cents) across all urban and New Territories routes and a 23 per cent rise for Lantau and boundary services.

The firms have also proposed a 50 per cent price increase for “airbus” services to and from the airport.

Most of the city’s franchised bus operators have recorded hefty losses in recent years due to wage increases, higher fuel costs, as well as plummeting ridership amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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Citybus and New World First Bus were the hardest hit, posting losses of almost HK$340 million and HK$87 million, respectively, from 2019 to 2021.

Meanwhile, Long Win Bus and New Lantao Bus lost more than HK$40 million and HK$420 million, respectively, during the 2020 and 2021 financial years.

KMB was the only franchised bus company to turn a profit in 2020 and 2021, which totalled around HK$317.5 million.

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Bravo Transport Services CEO Adam Leishman on Friday said the proposed fare rise for its airbus services was the first since 1998, while the other fee rises would be the third in 15 years, explaining there was a big gap between the cost inflation and the increases.

“I understand the sentiment but there is a real justification … to get our business back to a financially healthy situation,” he said. “This is a systemic problem with cost inflation and the loss of passengers [occurring] over an extended period of time.”

But many lawmakers opposed the increases and called on authorities to find ways for the bus operators to diversify their income, such as allowing them to run convenience stores and cafes at interchange areas and on their own properties.

Lawmaker Michael Tien. Photo: Edmond So

They also urged the government to reform the fare adjustment mechanism to align with outstanding inflation.

Lawmaker and former Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun said the Citybus and New World First Bus’ proposed HK$2 flat fare increase represented a jump of about 25 per cent and about seven times the rate of accumulated inflation over the past two years.

“This is really invoking the wrath of God … But counting the proposed rises, the accumulated rises over the past 15 years are still below the accumulated inflation,” he said. “The government could consider linking the bus fare rises to half of the annual inflation.”

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New People’s Party legislator Dominic Lee Tsz-king agreed with Tien’s stance, asking if authorities would introduce a regular mechanism to prevent franchised bus operators from making erratic fare increases.

“I feel very outraged by the fare increase applications as many people are still hard hit by the pandemic. It means they don’t want to tide over the difficulties with the public,” he said.

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