DC Paper No.8/2015
(For discussion on 17 February 2015)
Progress Report of the Traffic and Transport Committee
The first special meeting of the Traffic and Transport Committee
(T&TC) in 2015 was held on 7 January 2015. The major issues discussed are
summarised below:
Proposal to discuss enhancing the service of bus route no. B1 and taking
action against person(s) to be held responsible for “1228” incident
1.
Members hoped to know the particulars of “1228” incident (“the
incident”). They proposed Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited
(“KMB”) to flexibly adjust the last bus-departure time in light of passenger
flow at the control point and the opening hours of the control point, and to
provide sufficient backup vehicles to cope with unexpected incidents. As
regards improvement measures for bus route no. B1, some Members proposed
to split the Yuen Long/Tin Shui Wai (TSW) route or TSW South/TSW North
route and to relocate the terminus to TSW town centre for the purpose of
relieving the congestion of the route. Members also suggested conduct a site
inspection to San Tin Lok Ma Chau Public Transport Interchange (i.e. the
Yellow Bus Station) with KMB and Transport Department (TD) with a view to
examining the feasibility of providing an en-route stop thereat. Besides,
Members proposed to operate special trips plying between TSW North and
Futian Port during weekends and public holidays for the convenience of
residents of TSW North.
2.
KMB said that their staff working at the control point would assess
the demand of passengers at the control point every night after it had closed, so
as to deploy sufficient buses for carrying the passengers. The circumstances
of the incident were special. In the night of 28 December 2014 after the
control point had been closed, more than 30 people, who had passed the Hong
Kong Immigration but were refused entry by the Mainland Immigration, had to
return to Hong Kong. At that time, KMB had asked the opinions of the
passengers on the last bus of B1 which had departed. Since some of the
passengers raised objection, the bus did not return to the control point to carry
the people stranded thereat and headed to TSW Tin Tsz Terminal according to
the original route. In the meantime, KMB arranged a special bus trip from
Yuen Long to carry those passengers. Eventually, they took the special bus
trip at 11:40pm and left Lok Ma Chau Control Point. KMB also pointed out
that after the implementation of “area approach” for rationalising bus routes
and cancellation of route no. 264M, more resources had been deployed to route
no. B1. In light of the demand of passengers, 12-metre buses were used to
operate route no.B1 for the purpose of carrying more passengers by each bus
and shortening their waiting time. KMB would also arrange in situ field
testing to examine the feasibility of using bigger buses to operate the route.
KMB would consider Members’ proposals of re-routing or providing more
stops, but had to take into account their implications on journey time and road
traffic.
3.
TD said that it had asked KMB to submit a report on the incident.
It had also reminded KMB to pay attention to passengers’ demand for the last
bus of the route, and to increase bus frequency and arrange backup buses for
carrying passengers when necessary. As regards Members’ proposal of
re-routing, TD opined that the planning of routing should strike a balance
between the coverage of the route and the respective journey time. If the
routing was too circuitous, bus frequency and service efficiency would be
affected. Regarding the provision of more en-route stops, TD suggested
conduct a site inspection to San Tin Lok Ma Chau Public Transport
Interchange and assess the traffic conditions of the adjoining areas first, and no
option could be confirmed at this stage.
4.
In conclusion, the Chairman said that in view of the incident, it was
hoped that KMB would liaise more closely with the control point and would
timely deploy backup buses to cope with unexpected incidents. Moreover,
Members would conduct a site inspection to San Tin Lok Ma Chau Public
Transport Interchange with TD and KMB before the Chinese New Year, for the
purpose of assessing whether an en-route stop of route no. B1 could be
provided thereat. Members would also write to the Transport and Housing
Bureau to reflect their views on the said route. As regards improvement
measures in relation to the service of the route, T&TC requested TD and KMB
to submit progress reports at the second meeting of T&TC to be held in March
2015.
(Post-meeting note: T&TC, TD and KMB decided to jointly conduct a site
inspection to San Tin Lok Ma Chau Public Transport Interchange in the
morning of 10 February 2015.)
Yuen Long District Council Secretariat
January 2015