Hong Kong is gradually embarking on the road to normalcy, and soon ushered in a wave of fare increases. The Transport and Logistics Bureau replied last night (22nd) that all franchised bus companies have started to submit fare increase applications to the government in the first half of this year. 20%.
It is understood that KMB and Long Win have applied for an increase of less than 10%; New Lantao Bus said that the increase in application is about 10%.
In other words, NWFB and Citybus will increase their application by up to about 20%.
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The government approved four franchised bus companies to increase fares last year, among which Citybus (Franchise 1) and NWFB increased their fares by an average of 12.0%, which will be implemented in two phases; the actual weighted average fare increase of KMB’s exclusive routes is 5.8%; On Lantau Island, the average increase is 9.8%.
As for Long Win's fare increase application at that time, it was not approved.
One year after the fare increase, the franchised buses will apply for fare increase again.
The Transportation Bureau explained that the fuel and wage costs of bus companies have risen, and the number of passengers has decreased under the epidemic. Therefore, the franchised bus companies have submitted applications for fare increases in the first half of this year, with increases of about 10% to 20%.
KMB and Long Win replied last night that they will apply to the government for fare adjustments in mid-2022 and early 2022 respectively, hoping that the government will approve them as soon as possible to increase resources to cope with the continuously rising operating costs.
It is understood that the application increase rate for KMB and Long Win is less than 10%.
Yuba replied this afternoon (23rd) that it will apply to adjust the fare in the second half of this year, and the increase will be about 10%.
Yuba continued to point out that fuel prices and human resource costs continued to rise, which led to an increase in operating costs. Coupled with the continuation of the epidemic, the overall passenger volume fell, especially the passenger volume of routes that mainly focus on gateways.
KMB, Long Win and Yuba all applied for an increase of about 10%.
In other words, the "increase of about 10% to 20%" mentioned by the Transport Bureau refers to the New World Bus and Citybus.
The two buses replied last night that it is necessary to review the current fare level of public transport to ensure the financial sustainability of franchised buses, and did not respond positively to the application for an increase.
Legislative Council member Chen Hengbin said that he understands that the rise in international oil prices, and the situation may continue, will put some pressure on the operation of bus companies.
However, he also emphasized that the fare increase proposed by the franchised bus company this time is indeed relatively high, and he is worried that the public will not be able to afford it under the current economic difficulties.
Fare increase tide｜Bus companies apply for fare increase Transport and Logistics Bureau: The increase is about 10% to 20% Citybus and NWFB announced a salary increase of 4.5% next year. The front line will increase the manpower in October this year. Clear timetable for zero-emission buses
