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Following is a question by the Hon Alice Mak and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (April 13):
Question:
In Hong Kong, quite a number of public hospitals were built on hillsides and are not accessible by franchised buses. Members of the public visiting those hospitals mostly use green minibus feeder service after taking a franchised bus or railway trip. However, some members of the public have relayed to me that both the frequencies and coverage of the relevant green minibus routes are insufficient to meet demands, thus causing inconvenience to members of the public (especially frail patients and the elderly). Regarding the green minibus routes running to and from various public hospitals, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the various minibus routes, including the route numbers, their coverage, frequencies, fares and the names of the operators concerned (broken down by the name of public hospital);
(2) of the current average daily boardings and occupancy rates of each minibus route; whether the authorities have regularly reviewed the service level of the minibus routes, including their frequencies, occupancy rates and coverage; if they have, of the details of the reviews and the date on which the last review was conducted;
(3) given that quite a number of patients who need to use wheelchairs ride on such minibuses, whether the authorities will require the operators concerned to arrange minibuses providing access for wheelchairs and spaces for parking wheelchairs to ply such routes, and set up more direct minibus routes to public hospitals; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4) given that there will be public hospitals completed or redeveloped successively in the next few years and the ageing population will cause the number of persons seeking consultation to rise, whether the authorities will conduct a comprehensive review of the public transport services for various public hospitals?
Reply:
President,
My consolidated reply to the various parts of the Hon Alice Mak's question is as follows:
Within the public transport network, public light buses (PLBs) primarily play the role of providing supplementary feeder service and serving areas with relatively lower passenger demand or where the use of high-capacity transport modes is not suitable. Public hospitals are one of the major community facilities served by green minibuses (GMBs). Some public hospitals are mainly served by GMBs while some others are served by direct services provided by a variety of public transport modes. At present, of about 500 GMB routes, 104 routes can serve public hospitals and 33 of which have their terminating points at public hospitals. The details of the 104 GMB routes are at the Annex. Depending on the service hour, frequency, area served and hospital size, these routes have an average daily patronage ranging from several dozens to over 10 000 passengers. These GMBs also have varying occupancy rates. With an average at 50 per cent, the rate can be as high as 80 per cent or as low as about 20 per cent. In view of this situation, it is the established practice of the Transport Department (TD) to group appropriate routes into route packages having regard to such factors as service area and patronage. This bundling arrangement ensures that GMB service can meet the needs of the community and no routes with unsatisfactory returns will be left without an operator.
It is the practice for TD to conduct service surveys covering all GMB routes every one to two years. Ad hoc service surveys on individual routes will also be carried out from time to time where necessary. Meanwhile, TD requires GMB operators to submit operating data regularly to monitor the situation of various GMB routes. The department will also assess the adequacy of service level from time to time in the light of the latest development of areas served by individual routes (such as completion of new facilities and intake of residents for new housing estates). Based on the monitoring and survey results, TD, in collaboration with the operators, will take measures to cater for passenger needs. Such measures include revising and reorganising GMB routes, introducing short-haul or supplementary routes (such as short-haul routes terminating at hospitals), adjusting distribution of vehicles, and revising service timetable, etc.
As for GMB routes serving public hospitals, the number of routes and the level of service are set based on the number of people travelling to and from the hospitals. TD will adjust service and consider introducing new direct routes to public hospitals having regard to actual circumstances. Recent examples include the introduction of two new GMB routes 813 and 813A to tie in with the intake of residents for Shui Chuen O Estate in 2015. These routes set off from Shui Chuen O and pass by Prince of Wales Hospital with one of them terminating at Shatin Hospital. Moreover, a new GMB route, which runs from On Tat Estate to Jordon Valley via United Christian Hospital, will be introduced from the second quarter of 2016 to tie in with the intake of residents for the housing development at Anderson Road.
The design of PLBs being used at the moment is not suitable for use by wheelchair-bound passengers as ramp or lifting facility necessary for wheelchair boarding is not provided. Retrofitting would have to overcome considerable technical, service and operational difficulties and is thus not feasible. A more practical approach is to search for low-floor wheelchair-accessible models suitable for use in Hong Kong. If such model(s) can be identified, a trial can be carried out to determine the feasibility of putting them to serve suitable routes. This exercise will be conducted in tandem with the review of the role and positioning of PLBs under the Public Transport Strategy Study (PTSS). The whole PTSS is expected to be completed by mid-2017.
Meanwhile, as the use of wheelchair-accessible low-floor franchised buses is increasingly common (Note), TD is studying with franchised bus companies the feasibility of using such buses, equipped with other facilities/arrangements that can facilitate passengers (for example additional handrails), to provide new service or enhance existing service to and from public hospitals. Subject to the findings, the arrangement can be implemented in around two years.
Furthermore, the Government will explore with franchised bus companies the feasibility of providing two wheelchair parking spaces in the bus compartment of certain routes (such as hospital routes). In doing so, due consideration would need to be given to whether the existing models can fit more than one wheelchair parking space, and the impact on the number and location of priority seats, etc.
Apart from GMBs and franchised buses, people travelling to public hospitals may consider using taxi and Rehabus services. Some taxis are already wheelchair-accessible and provide hire-as-a-whole service. Rehabus service subsidised by the Labour and Welfare Bureau provides telephone booking service and four feeder routes to and from hospitals, clinics and railway stations.
It is our policy to provide users of public hospitals with various public transport services to cater for the different needs. Upon completion of the development or redevelopment of public hospitals, relevant government departments will, based on the increased demand, review the public transport service arrangements according to planning standard so as to address the needs of members of the public.
Note: Based on the latest bus replacement programme, all buses (except for some serving South Lantau which are constrained by the terrain) are expected to be of wheelchair-accessible low-floor design by 2017.
Ends/Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Issued at HKT 15:55
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