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Following is a question by the Hon Howard Young and a reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, in the Legislative Council meeting today (February 8):
Question:
It has been reported that the Hong Kong Tourism Board has estimated that the number of inbound tourists will reach 27 million this year, representing an increase of 17% over last year. The rapid growth in the number of tourists leads to an increase in the demand for tour bus services. However, as the Government imposes a limit on the number of non-franchised buses (NFBs), tour buses are in short supply. Licence fees and rentals for tour buses have been elevated as a result of speculative activities, thereby increasing the operating costs of travel agents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has assessed if the current number of NFBs operating tour services is sufficient to meet the future market demand; if so, of the assessment results and supporting data; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) whether it will review regularly the measures for regulating the operation of NFBs; if it will, of the next review date; as the tourism industry is dissatisfied with the authorities' stringent regulation on the operation of NFBs and restriction on the number of such buses, whether the authorities will consider conducting interim reviews on such regulation and restriction; and
(c) of the measures in the short and medium terms to help the industry solve the problem of insufficient tour buses to meet the demand arising from the rapid increase in tourists?
Reply:
Madam President,
The Government has an overall transport policy in respect of the operation of all public transport. With limited road space and the community's concern about the environmental impact brought by public transport, the government﷿s policy is to adopt the railway as backbone of our public transport system. Priority is given to the development of mass transport system like railways and franchised buses. As for other mode of transport like non-franchised buses (NFBs), public light buses and taxis, they are to perform a supplementary role and to provide services to different market sectors. The government will continue to reviewe this policy from time to time to meet the situation.
The Government has not imposed any limit on the number of non-franchised buses, including those operating tour service. We understand that imposing a limit on the number of NFBs will not only undermine the operational flexibility of the trade, but will also restrict the flexibility in meeting the genuine demand of some service sectors which may require additional vehicles due to special circumstances. The measures for regulating the operation of NFBs introduced by the Government last April were only aimed at addressing the problems of oversupply of NFB and the operation of unauthorised services by individual operators in recent years. These improvement measures were put in place after consultation with the NFB trade, groups of the users concerned and the Legislative Council Panel on Transport.
Indeed, the Transport Department (TD) has maintained liaison with the Tourism Commission (TC), the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC) and the NFB trade to gauge the tourism industry's demand for tour bus service so as to ensure that the level of tour service can keep pace with the development of the tourism industry.
Regarding the first part of Hon. Young's question, TD conducted a survey on NFB service in February 2005. At that time, there were a total of 7,200 registered NFBs, about 44 per cent (i.e. 3,200) of which were allowed to provide tour service. Of these, about 40 per cent were providing tour service at the time of the survey. The average occupancy rate of each bus was around 55 per cent.
Both the results of the survey and the number of NFBs allowed to provide tour service indicate that the existing NFB fleet has sufficient capacity to cope with tourists' demand for NFB tour service. TD will continue to conduct traffic surveys from time to time and maintain contact with the stakeholders including the tourism industry to keep abreast with the latest operational mode, development as well as the demand and supply of the tour bus service. It will also make appropriate arrangements to complement the tourism development.
Regarding the second part of the question, TD will constantly take note of changes in the number of various types of NFBs and conduct traffic surveys. It will continue to consult the trade through regular meetings and maintain liaison with TC and TIC so as to monitor the implementation of the measures. TD will also consider fine-tuning these measures if necessary to dovetail with development and changes. Meanwhile, we have no plan to conduct another review in the near future.
Regarding the third part of the question, as I mentioned before, currently nearly half of the NFBs are allowed to provide tour service. The results of the survey conducted by TD in February 2005 also show that there is no shortage of tour buses.
Following the completion of various new railway projects including the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line, Hong Kong's major border control points (e.g. the Airport, Lo Wu and Huanggang) will be served by convenient railway links. In the urban areas, tourists can make use of the various forms of public transport available to go to the major tourist and shopping attractions. We will continue to identify possible areas of improvement in the transport system to cater for tourists' transport needs. Under the existing transport policy where railways serve as the backbone of Hong Kong's public transport system, NFB service will continue to play a supplementary role. As for tour bus service, under the existing policy for regulating the operation of NFBs, operators of NFBs may apply for an increase in the number of buses according to market demand or adjust the type of service provided by their existing fleet in line with tourism development. TD will consider the justifications for application, service demand, adequacy of the existing transport services and other factors before making the appropriate decision.
Ends/Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:16
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