Guidelines on Service Improvement and
Reduction in Bus Route Development Programmes
Service Improvement
(I)
Frequency
Improvement
If the occupancy rate of any bus route reaches 100% during any half-hour
of the peak period and 85% during that one hour, or reaches 60% during
the busiest one hour of the off-peak period, the Transport Department (TD)
will consider the deployment of more vehicles to enhance the service level.
In increasing the vehicle allocation, priority will be given to redeploying
vehicles saved from other rationalisation items.
(II)
New
Bus
Service
If the frequency improvement alone is not sufficient to meet demand and
no practical alternatives are available, we will give consideration to the
provision of new bus service, with priority to serve areas that are beyond
the catchment area of existing railways or railway feeders. In approving
any new bus service, we will also consider the impact of such new service
on the traffic condition on major roads, and will as far as possible refrain
from providing long haul bus routes or routes that operate via busy districts
such as Mong Kok, Tsim Sha Tsui, Central, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay etc.
Service Reduction
In pursuance of our policy objective of providing a safe, efficient and
reliable transport system in a sustainable environment, franchised bus routes with
low utilisation would be rationalised from time to time to enhance bus operation
efficiency while meeting passenger demand and matching local operating
environment, reducing traffic congestion and roadside emission. These
guidelines set out the situations whereby rationalisation measures such as
adjustment to service frequency and timetable, route cancellation / amalgamation,
route truncation, etc. would be pursued.
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(III) Reduction of Bus Trips along Busy Corridors
In view of concentration of activities in the urban areas leading to serious
environmental and traffic concerns, TD is committed to reducing the
number of bus trips along busy corridors and bus stoppings through
various measures of service cancellation / reduction and route
rationalisation. If it is inevitable for new routes or enhanced bus services
to operate via these busy corridors, the bus operators will have to reduce
the same number of trips plying through the same corridor from other
routes in order not to aggravate the traffic and environmental conditions in
these busy corridors.
(IV) Frequency
Reduction
If the average occupancy rate of an individual route is below 85% during
the peakiest half-hour of the peak period, or below 30% during the
off-peak period, TD will consider reducing bus deployment for the route.
Railway feeder routes, socially essential routes (such as bus routes serving
remote areas or where the majority of the passengers are elderlies)
with no
alternatives available, and routes with peak headways at 15 minutes or
more will be considered on individual merits.
(V)
Route Cancellation / Amalgamation
If the utilisation of a low-frequency route does not improve (i.e. a bus route
with average occupancy rate lower than 50% during peak hour, despite its
headways having already been reduced to 15 minutes and 30 minutes
during peak hours and off-peak hours respectively), TD will consider
proposing cancellation of the route or amalgamation of the route with other
route(s) in consultation with the bus operators.
(VI) Route
Truncation
To optimise the use of resources, TD will review with relevant bus
operators the feasibility of truncating routes, in particular those where
majority of the passengers will have alighted en route. In formulating
truncation proposals, TD will consider whether the number of affected
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passengers is excessive (i.e. the occupancy rate of not more than 20% to
30% at the proposed truncated section during the peakiest hour); whether
enough roadside space is available to accommodate the affected passengers
for interchange; and whether terminal space for the changed route is
available.
Factors to be Considered in Bus Service Rationalisation
In formulating rationalisaton proposals, in particular those where drastic
measures are to be adopted, TD would give due consideration to ensure that the
interests of passengers would be taken care of and to minimise impact on them as
far as possible.
Factors that will be taken into account include:
(a) nature of the services proposed to be cancelled: For services the
utilisation rates of which have been consistently low but are socially
essential (i.e. those serving remote areas or where majority of the
passengers are elderlies) and without reasonable alternatives, TD would
consider other means to improve the service performance, such as through
the use of vehicles with smaller carrying capacities, provision of
alternatives such as introduction of replacement green minibus services,
etc;
(b) availability of reasonable alternatives: In proposing service cancellation,
measures have to be taken to ensure that reasonable alternatives for the
affected passengers are provided as far as possible. Factors such as the
availability of spare capacity of alternative services in taking up the
diverted passengers, the number and convenience of interchanges
involved, the total journey time (including interchange and on-vehicle
time) as compared with the existing services, etc, would be assessed
carefully to ensure the reasonableness of the alternative services;
(c) fare of the best available alternative service: The total journey fare as
compared with the fare of the existing service would be assessed.
Positive consideration to route cancellation will be given if the total
journey fare is not higher than that of the service being considered for
cancellation. The relevant bus operators would also be requested to
consider the provision of fare concessions, such as interchange discounts,
section fares, special discounts to elderly, and other incentives wherever
appropriate and feasible, to provide attraction to the affected passengers
to facilitate the implementation of the rationalisation proposals;
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(d) transport operational considerations: The proposed service
rationalisation should not cause undue hardship to passengers or
operational problems. Factors such as the number of passengers
requiring interchanges, the availability of space for interchange activities,
etc. would be carefully assessed. The deployment of the saved vehicles
to improve services within the same district would also be spelt out where
appropriate;
(e) impact of the proposed service rationalisation on bus captains: Factors
to be considered include the number of bus captains that would be
affected by the proposed service rationalisation, and whether the excess
bus captains could be absorbed through natural wastage or other means
without causing any major staff issues; and
(f)
environmental benefits arising from the service rationalisation:
Environmental benefits such as the reduction in emission, reduction of
bus trips in busy corridors, etc. would be spelt out in the consultation
documents for the public to take note of.
Document Outline
- Draft LegCo Panel paper -standees_Eng _v3 (clean) (a1a)
- Annex 1 - Guidelines (E)
- Annex 2 - major bus models (clean) (E) (a1a)