Franchised buses

FRANCHISED buses are the largest road-based carriers, accounting for 31 percent of the total daily public transport volume. Bus services in Kowloon and the New Territories are largely provided by The Kowloon Motor Bus Co., (1933) Ltd. (KMB). KMB has a licensed fleet of 3,888 buses, of which 3,580 are wheelchair-accessible low-floor vehicles. It recorded 969 million passenger trips in 2015, or an average of 2.66 million per day, covering 285.59 million km of roads.

Bus services on Hong Kong Island are mainly provided by New World First Bus Services Ltd. (NWFB) and Citybus Ltd. (CTB). By the end of 2015, NWFB was operating 45 bus routes on Hong Kong Island, eight in Kowloon and Tseung Kwan O and 34 cross-harbor routes, 29 of which were run jointly with KMB.It recorded 169 million passenger trips in 2015, or an average of 463,500 per day, covering 44.35 million km of roads.

CTB operates two bus networks under two franchises. One covers 52 bus routes on Hong Kong Island, one bus route in the New Territories and 29 cross-harbor routes, 22 of which are operated jointly with KMB.

The other franchise covers a network of 21 routes plying between the urban areas and North Lantau and the airport. CTB recorded 229 million passenger trips in 2015, or an average of 626,400 per day, covering 80.76 million km of roads.

Non-franchised buses

Non-franchised bus services play a supplementary role in the public transport system. They relieve heavy demand on regular public transport services primarily during peak hours, fill gaps which cannot be met by regular public transport services, and provide tailor-made services to specific groups of passengers. They serve mainly tourists, estate residents, employees and students.

Public light buses

Public light buses (PLBs) are licensed to carry a maximum of 16 passengers each. The number of PLBs has been capped at 4,350 since 1976. They together provide about 1.86 million passenger trips per day. There are two types of PLBs – green minibuses (GMBs) and red minibuses (RMBs). GMBs provide scheduled services with fixed routes, fares, vehicle allocation and timetables as stipulated by the Transport Department. By the end of 2015, 3,204 GMBs were operating 351 routes, recording a daily average of 1,525,900 passenger trips. RMBs are not required to operate on fixed routes or timetables and may set their own fares but are subject to restrictions on their operating areas. There were 1,146 RMBs in operation at the year end, recording a daily average of 338,300 passenger trips.