The threshold of "70% occupancy" for these routes is lower than that for Shuttle routes ("80% occupancy" - see paragraph 6 above) because it is necessary to take into account the longer journey time of these long distance routes. On the other hand, given the premium nature of the service provided by the Airbus routes, standing capacity is excluded in the threshold for this service category.

Streamlining of routeing

10. In October 1998, a trial scheme to simplify the routeing of four Airbus and External routes within CLK was introduced after consulting the CLK staff. As a result, the average bus journey time was reduced by about 5 minutes. The simplified routeing was welcomed by the majority of the CLK staff who responded to the survey conducted by the Transport Department and the AA in December 1998, whilst some CLK staff commented that they had to walk a longer distance to their workplace under the simplified routeing. In response to these comments, Transport Department has, in consultation with the bus operators, modified the routeing wherever practicable. Transport Department intends to implement the new arrangement in June 1999.

Requests for new services

11. Since Airport opening, Transport Department has received many requests from members of the public for new direct bus services from North District, Ma On Shan, Tseung Kwan O, Siu Sai Wan, Southern District and Western District. These requests have been examined taking into account the following factors:

1. the level of passenger demand and whether passengers already have reasonable alternatives;

2. financial viability of the new direct routes, and whether the demand should be met by providing a feeder to the Airport Railway, or by extending an existing route;

3. the impact of the new direct routes on other modes/operators, particularly the Airport Railway;

4. operational feasibility of the new routes in terms of road, kerbside and terminal conditions; and

5. public acceptability.

1. North District

   A new Route A43 (Fanling - Airport) for North District was introduced in January 1999 on a trial basis for six months, using buses redeployed from other Airport routes. The routeing covers the Fanling and Sheung Shui areas. Residents in Ta Kwu Ling and Sha Tau Kok areas can take public transport services to Fanling or Sheung Shui to interchange for this route to go to the Airport. The patronage of this route has been satisfactory and Transport Department plans to approve it as a long term service.

2. Ma On Shan

   Having consulted the Traffic and Transport Committee of the Shatin Provisional District Board in May 1999, the bus operator for Route A41 (Shatin - Airport) would extend some trips on this route to Ma On Shan to meet passenger demand, using buses redeployed from other Airport routes. This will be introduced in June 1999 on a trial basis for six months.

3. Tseung Kwan O

   Transport Department will continue to monitor the passenger demand to assess whether it can support a new direct bus route to the Airport. At present, residents in Tseung Kwan O can take public transport services to Lam Tin to interchange for Routes A22 and E22 to the Airport.

4. Siu Sai Wan

   To meet passenger demand, Route A12 (Sai Wan Ho - Airport) has been extended to Siu Sai Wan with effect from December 1998, using buses redeployed from other Airport routes.

5. Southern District

   A new feeder Route M590 plying between South Horizons and the Airport Railway Hong Kong Station will be introduced in June 1999.

6. Western District

   A new feeder route M5 plying between Kennedy Town and the Airport Railway Hong Kong Station will be introduced in June 1999.

13. Two additional Routes N30 (Yuen Long (East) - the Airport via Tin Shui Wai) and N35 (Mui Wo - Airport) were introduced in November 1998 to fill a service gap during night time. Another new Route N23 (Lam Tin - Airport) was introduced in April 1999 in response to passenger demand. In addition, the services of Routes N21 (Mong Kok - Airport) and N31 (Tsuen Wan - Airport) have been strengthened by the addition of an early service at 5:15 am. Although generally, the overnight routes have fairly low patronage, these services must be maintained as there are no alternative public transport in those hours.

AIRPORT RAILWAY

14. The MTRC has been monitoring the patronage of the Airport Express Line and the Tung Chung Line closely. A number of marketing measures have been introduced in the past months, which include fare concessions, free feeder services to passengers using Octopus and family travel packages etc. The patronage of the two railway lines has picked up in recent months since the introduction of the above measures. The daily average patronage of the two lines in March 1999 has increased by about 7% since November 1998.

TAXIS

15. The taxi trade account for about 3% of the total public transport patronage to and from the Airport. This percentage share has remained rather stable since Airport opening. Based on a survey conducted by the AA in April 1999, the average queuing time for urban taxis at the CLK taxi station in the daytime peak (i.e. 12 noon - 3 pm) and the evening peak (i.e. 8 pm - 11 pm) is 2" hours and 3" hours respectively. The queuing time for the N.T. taxis is about an hour longer than the urban taxis during the evening peak. For Lantau taxis, the queuing time is less than 10 minutes during the daytime peak and about one hour during the evening peak.

16. There have been reports that some urban taxi drivers in the Airport would prefer to accept hire to travel to town rather than to the other parts of the Airport island or Tung Chung. To facilitate adequate provision of taxi service for short-distance hire, a short-distance card scheme was introduced by the AA in July 1998 whereby a card is distributed by AA staff to the urban taxi driver accepting a hire to the other parts of the Airport island or Tung Chung. The card enables the driver to join the taxi queue at the front end on the condition that he returns within 30 minutes. Separately, an urban taxi stand for short-distance hire was set up by the AA at the Ground Transportation Centre on a trial basis in December 1998 and January 1999. The arrangement was generally welcomed by the taxi trade and the AA is considering detailed arrangement for full implementation of the scheme. To further assist the taxi trade, the AA has posted additional directional signs in the Arrival Hall informing arriving passengers of the location of the taxi stands.

FERRIES

17. There are two ferry routes from Tuen Mun and Discovery Bay respectively to the CLK Ferry Pier. The ferry routes account for about 3% of the total Airport public transport patronage and the figure has remained rather stable since Airport opening. There is currently no plan to make any change to the ferry services to CLK.

ACTIONS AGAINST TOUTING ACTIVITIES

18. It is an offence under the AA By-law to tout for hire within the area managed by the AA. A working group was formed in end 1998 comprising representatives from the AA, Police, Transport Department and the Hong Kong Tourist Association which meets regularly to consider actions against touting activities. In the past months, the AA has issued letters to the commercial tenants in the Passenger Terminal Building reminding them of the relevant AA By-law. The Authority has also stepped up patrol for enforcement. Up to 4 May 1999 since Airport opening, a total of 24 touting cases were prosecuted under the AA By-law. Two of the offenders were sentenced to short-term imprisonment and the others were fined.

19. In response to complaints that some light goods vans are being used to transport passengers to and from the Airport, the AA has recently reviewed the access to the Passenger Terminal Building by passenger vehicles and goods vehicles. The Authority intends to implement a new arrangement later in the year whereby all goods vehicles including light goods vans would be banned from access to the departure kerb of the Passenger Terminal Building. These vehicles would be encouraged to use the loading dock of the Building instead.

FURTHER STEPS

20. The recent review conducted by Transport Department shows that there is surplus capacity in the public transport services serving the Airport. Indeed, the economic situation in the past year or so has significantly affected the number of air and non-air passengers travelling to and from the Airport. A number of measures have been taken and are being planned to ensure a closer match between the service provision and the demand.

21. We will need to continue to monitor carefully the demand pattern for public transport services based on the passenger demand pattern for the Airport and Tung Chung new town. If the present pattern of patronage continues, additional measures will need to be taken to further rationalise the public transport services serving the Airport. These measures may not be welcomed by everyone, but they are necessary to ensure an efficient deployment of resources to meet passenger demand.

Transport Bureau
May 1999

Annex A

Public Transport Patronage to and from the Airport and North Lantau

Note:

(1) Taxi patronage is estimated from surveys by TD and the Airport Authority.

(2) These figures do not include bus services from the Airport and Tung Chung to South Lantau.

(3) All figures are rounded to the nearest hundreds. They may not add up to the total due to rounding.

Annex B

Franchised Bus Services for the Airport/Tung Chung at Airport opening (July 1998)

7 Airbus routes

10 External routes

4 Overnight services

8 Shuttle services

Remarks

(1) Terminal extended to Siu Sai Wan in December 1998.

(2) Terminal extended to Lam Tin in April 1999.

(3) Terminal changed to Choi Hung in April 1999.

(4) Shuttle services within Chek Lap Kok.