Bus Fares To Rise As Much As 12 Percent

Bus fares are set to rise from next month after the government approved phased fare hikes of up to 12 percent for four bus companies, saying all are facing “severe financial difficulties” while at least two will continue to lose money despite the fee increase.

Officials are also extending a fare subsidy scheme and increasing the maximum monthly rebate to HK$500 to mitigate the effects of the fare increase.

The Executive Council gave the green light for Citybus and New World First Bus to increase their fares by 12 percent, in two phases.

Fares will first go up by 8.5 percent on April 4, with another 3.2 percent hike to kick in on January 2, 2022.

Kowloon Motor Bus will charge commuters an average of 8.5 percent more, while fares for New Lantao Bus company will rise by 9.8 percent from April 4.

But the government rejected an application by Long Win Bus, which runs bus services to the airport.

The government says this is because it believes the company's financial situation will improve when the pandemic subsides.

Transport officials said while the bus companies had previously benefited from various government relief measures in the form of fuel and wage subsidies, they have now expired, and “individual franchised bus operators are facing severe financial difficulties because of the declining revenue and rising operating costs."

The government added that the companies had made their fare hike applications back in 2018 and 2019, but were put on hold because of the pandemic.

"Both Citybus and New World First Bus will still see red in their books even with the fare increase rate at 12 percent as proposed by the two operators. Approving this round of fare increase applications in full appears essential for the survival of the two companies," a spokesman for the Transport and Housing Bureau said.

At the same time, the government said it will raise the maximum rebate handed out per month to people under its public transport fare subsidy scheme from HK$400 to HK$500 until December.

Those who spend at least HK$200 on public transport every month are eligible for the subsidy.

A spokesman said the measure is aimed at further allieviating the hardship felt by the public.

Officials said 90 percent of affected passengers will pay no more than HK$1 extra per trip after the fare increases are implemented, while Citybus and New World First Bus passengers will shoulder an increase of no more than HK$1.5 per journey.