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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Kong-wah and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (February 22) :
Question :
Regarding the operation of green minibuses (GMBs), will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) it has statistics about the respective numbers of GMBs running on Hong Kong island, in Kowloon and in the New Territories whose drivers are remunerated on a "revenue-sharing" basis, and the percentage of such GMBs in all GMBs in Hong Kong and the number of operators adopting this mode of operation;
(b) there are other wage systems for GMB drivers in addition to the "revenue-sharing" or salaried modes; and
(c) it will consider standardising the wage systems for all GMB drivers in Hong Kong with the salaried mode across the board as soon as possible so as to prevent GMB drivers remunerated on a "revenue-sharing" basis from speeding and ignoring the safety of passengers and other road users in the hope of maximising their passenger trips; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply :
Madam President,
According to Section 27 of the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374), all green minibus (GMB) service operators are required to obtain Passenger Service License (PSL) issued by the Transport Department (TD) for operating the respective GMB route packages. A condition of the PSL requires the operators to ensure effective monitoring of their services by employing drivers for driving public light buses (PLBs) to provide the GMB services.
At present, there are 120 GMB operators operating 147 route packages across the territory. Six (five per cent) of these operators remunerate their drivers on a solely "revenue-sharing" basis and have not employed the drivers for driving the PLB to provide the GMB services. These six operators are operating a total of six route packages, of which one is in Kowloon and five are in the New Territories. Operators of the above route packages remunerate their drivers on a solely "revenue-sharing" basis and have not complied with the requirement on employment of drivers. The reasons are that they are unable to complete corporatisation procedures on time before launching the service or during business re-organisation, or due to disagreement among shareholders.
TD has been closely monitoring the above situation and urged all GMB operators to comply strictly with the PSL condition on employment of drivers. Operators in question have committed to complete the relevant procedures by mid 2006 with a view to complying with the PSL condition.
TD understands that apart from remuneration on "revenue-sharing basis" or salaried modes, some GMB drivers join the GMB operation as a partner of the company concerned.
Safe driving is the proper attitude all drivers should have, particularly the professional drivers. Under all circumstances, professional drivers have the obligation to drive safely to protect the safety of the passengers and other road users. The remuneration system for GMB drivers should not be directly related to their driving behaviour. While operators are required to comply with the above PSL condition for PLBs on employing drivers for provision of GMB service, they should also enjoy the flexibility to make reasonable remuneration arrangements for their drivers and adopt appropriate and effective measures to monitor their conduct as well as service quality and safety. The government, therefore, have no plans for standardising the remuneration system for all GMB drivers in Hong Kong.
As for the safety awareness and professional conduct of PLB drivers, we will continue our efforts in various aspects including legislation, enhanced enforcement, education and publicity in order to ensure the safety of PLB service.
Ends/Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:25
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