Hong Kong bus firms get nod to raise fares by up to 7.5% from January 5
Fare increases approved by the Executive Council, the city’s top decision-making body
Hong Kong’s franchised bus operators have been given the green light to raise fares by up to 7.5 per cent starting early next month, prompting calls from a lawmaker for the firms to offer discounts and other perks to ease the financial burden of passengers.
The Executive Council, the city’s top decision-making body, approved the fare increases on Tuesday.
The decision allows Citybus to raise ticket prices by 7.5 per cent, while New Lantao Bus and KMB can increase their fares by 6.5 per cent and 4.3 per cent, respectively.
The new fares take effect on January 5. The three firms applied earlier this year to increase fares.
Commissioner for Transport Angela Lee Chung-yan said the government had exercised prudent “gatekeeping” to reduce the impact of the fare rises on people’s livelihoods while taking care of the bus operators’ financial sustainability to provide reliable and safe transport services.
She said that after the increases took effect, 95 per cent of passengers would pay no more than HK$1 extra per journey. About four in five travellers would be forking out no more than 50 HK cents extra per trip.
