'Bus Franchise System Should Be Changed'

The Democratic Party, which has no representative joining the upcoming Legislative Council discussion about bus franchises, on Sunday called on the government to stop its piecemeal approach to saving worsening yet ever more costly bus services.

The Chief Executive approved a rise in bus fares in March to cover the operators’ huge losses in recent years, and bus companies have also reduced services and routes to save money.

The party pointed out that these approaches could lead to a “vicious cycle”, whereby less people will be travelling by bus due to inconvenience, leading to even more routes being cut.

“That is a very imminent problem that we are facing. The bus companies could run out of cash very soon, and services will be deteriorating in a matter of maybe a few years,” the party’s chairman Lo Kin-hei said.

He also pointed out that bus companies are facing huge competition from expanding railway lines.

As the franchises of operators running routes in the New Territories and Kowloon will expire in 2023, the group suggested a switch to a publicly-owned but privately-run model.

He said such a model would free bus operators from worrying about their survival and let them focus more on the quality of their services.

“The risks the bus companies face would be much less. We would try to limit the factors that will affect the operation of the bus companies. For example, the purchasing of their buses, or their factories, the land they are using,” he said.

Lo said they hope to see the government subsidising unpopular yet necessary routes reaching places other transport cannot, such as hospitals and schools, as well as introducing a formula for amending bus fares which takes inflation into account.