Cross Harbour ar.. 110, 117 are the pretty low demand rts. I'm
not too sure abt e mornig specials like 305 & 336.
This is what I figured of Hong Kong's bus routing system... It's
also why we cannot follow them either though some of the intention
is good.
1) The fare system: It creates the need to implement short haul
svs to provide competitive fares against other players i.e. light
bus. Bus can be flooding the place during off peak hrs..
2) Specified bus - bus transfer scheme: Dun work here as our's
really need feeder bus plying the New Town. Some of our new town
layout is not condusive to have trunk buses making 1 round.
But some things we can learn
1) Semi express svs: One thing tat's +ve, but imagine trying to
convert some med or long dist rts into semi express and create bus
- bus overnight? Their semi
express routes charges the same fare as normal route, eg ,5，5B,
5X
2) Special early morning svs: For us, it can also mean providing
such svs to Jurong. Of course one issue is where to throw the buses
to after their special trips.
Their special trips bus
X-over to other routes when special trip
completed...
That said, HK's bus ridership problem might be attributed to the
following issues.
1) MTR expansion: I believe when TKO & MOS rail opened,
KMB's business took a drastic hit. It killed off a lot of demand on
the remaining Shatin - CBD svs. Buses were re-diverted to other routes to boost
ridership
2) Route rationalisation: I believe the bus companies are facing
a lot of problem whenever they try to amend bus routes.
But they set up special
routes when they are major events at Wanchai CEC, HK stadium,
victoria park etc...
