3 The franchise of the bus company expires in 2023, and it will be discussed in the middle of next year to reorganize the NWFB route.

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Written by: Zhong Yan

2021-06-11 23:43

Last update date: 2021-06-11 23:44

The three franchises of Long Win, NWFB and Citybus (Franchise II) will expire in 2023. The documents submitted by the Transport Department to the Legislative Council show that the three companies are interested in applying for the new 10-year franchise. The Department also believes that they have been providing efficient bus services and are willing to continue to invest in improving services. Therefore, they will discuss with the three companies to allow them to continue operating their existing services. The negotiation work is expected to be completed by mid-2022.

The document also details the service and financial performance of the three companies. Among them, the NWFB, which mainly operates the Hong Kong Island route, has suffered losses for three consecutive financial years, with the highest loss of $71 million in one year.

The Transport Department stated that the operating prospects of Hong Kong Island are not optimistic. It has noticed the community's proposal to reorganize routes and merge the two franchises. It will continue to listen and explore the future development options of NWFB and Citybus (Franchise 1).

The Legislative Council document disclosed the service performance of the three companies in the past seven years. Among them, NWFB performed the worst. From 2013 to 2019, the out-of-work rate was 2.5%. During the epidemic, it was as high as 11.1%, even though the epidemic was the first 4 years of this year. Months stabilized, and the out-of-work rate was still 2.3%.

As for the number of accidents, NWFB also has 5.95 bus accidents per million vehicle kilometers, which is higher than the industry average of 3.24 during the same period.

The Transport Department believes that the high accident rate is due to the fact that most of the NWFB bus routes run in the urban area and the roads are generally more congested and prone to accidents.

The Citybus (Franchise 2) operating the port line had the lowest drop-off rate. The average drop-off rate before the epidemic was 1.2%. During the epidemic, it only rose to 2.2%, and recently it was as low as 0.2%.

Long Win, which also operates the port line, was out of work before the epidemic to meet with Citybus, but it rose to 8.2% in the first half of 2020, but then stabilized to 1.0% for the first four months of this year.

Under the epidemic situation, the drop-off rate of NWFB in the first half of 2020 reached 11.1%.

(Profile picture)

NWFB and Citybus lost 90% of passengers at airports and land ports in a three-month eclipse of 221 million yuan

Transport Department: Bus operating environment will be very difficult in the future

In terms of financial performance, NWFB recorded a loss of 5 million to 71 million yuan in the past three financial years, of which the loss was the most serious in 2018/19; Citybus (Franchise 2) has an upward trend in its profits in the first 6 years. There is still a profit of 112 million yuan in 2018/19, but it plummeted to a profit of 6 million yuan in 2019/20.

Long Win’s profit changes are relatively modest, but there is no data for 2020, and there is no understanding of the financial situation under the epidemic.

The Transport Department pointed out that the operating environment of the bus industry is quite difficult in the foreseeable future. However, it is believed that the long-distance service aircraft is usually the most profitable. As long as the epidemic improves and the border control measures are relaxed, Citybus (Franchise 2) and Long Win will have better prospects .

However, the Transport Department specifically pointed out that the NWFB mainly operates on Hong Kong Island, with little room for network expansion and profit growth, and "the prospects are less optimistic."

The management of NWFB and Citybus said in an interview with "Hong Kong 01" earlier that they intend to reorganize more than one-third of the routes on Hong Kong Island.

In the Legislative Council document, the Transport Department also pointed out that the NWFB and the Citybus on the cross-harbour route (Franchise 1) have overlapping routes. It has been noted that the reorganization of the network and the reorganization of routes, as well as the merger of the two franchises, etc. Different suggestions mean that they will continue to listen to opinions and discuss future development options with NWFB and Citybus.

The management of NWFB and Citybus first recognizes that the unified fare of the two bus companies may become an obstacle to a large increase in some fares

NWFB and Citybus’s fare increase is still eroding, but it is not ruled out that it will also integrate the nearly half of the Hong Kong Island line to expand the territory of the Kowloon New Territories

Long Win Bus intends to purchase a total of 199 new buses in the next five years to update its fleet and further improve services.

(Provided by KMB)

Sanba will buy 300 new buses

The Transport Department also conducted passenger satisfaction surveys on three companies from March to April 2021. The overall service quality satisfaction of Citybus (Franchise 2), Long Win and NWFB was 94.4%, 92.4% and 90.4% respectively. .

In the next five years, Citybus (Franchise II) is expected to purchase 60 new buses, Long Win will purchase 199, and NWFB will purchase a total of 62 new buses to update its fleet and improve services.

The Transport Department stated that when the new franchise is approved, it will negotiate on the level of bus service, safety, environmental protection and fares. The goal is to complete the negotiations with the three companies in mid-2022, and then report the results to the Legislative Council Committee on Transport. , And the terms and promises of the new franchise.

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Bus facilities: Long Win Bus, Bus Outgoing, NWFB and Citybus