The Hong Kong Island Mid-Levels Bus Route 12 is operated by Citybus. It runs circular between Central Pier 3 and Robinson Road/Park Road, observing Caine Road, Seymour Road and Robinson Road in the Mid-Levels area in counter-clockwise direction. Route 12 makes a detour between Caine Road and Seymour Road via Bonham Road, Park Road and Castle Road outside the service hours of Route 12M.
History[]
- 16 August 1955: CMB started Route 12 circular service between Vehicular Ferry Pier and Seymour Road (before Dominicans Catholic Seminary),[Remark 1] observing clockwise through Robinson Road, Seymour Road and Caine Road.[1]
- 1 April 1959: Last bus hours from Vehicular Ferry Pier was delayed to 23:45.[2]
- 14 June 1963: Change to operate circular between Vehicular Ferry Pier and Robinson Road, turning back via Robinson Road, Park Road, Bonham Road and Caine Road.
- 14 November 1970: To tie in with the opening of Cotton Tree Drive, the route was diverted via the Drive to Mid-levels instead of Garden Road.[3]
- 11 September 1972: Terminus moved from Vehicular Ferry Pier to Central Bus Terminal.[4]
- 16 April 1974: Divert via Caine Road, Seymour Road and Robinson Road in a counter-clockwise direction to tie in with the official implementation of the Mid-Levels Bus-only Lane.
- 8 October 1982: Divert via Des Voeux Road Central instead of Queen's Road Central towards Central Bus Terminus to tie in with the implementation of the Public Transport Priority Road Scheme in Central.[5]
- 1 February 1985: Central Terminus was moved to Connaught Place to coincide with the acquisition of part of the former station for the construction of the Exchange Square.
- 6 April 1987: Central Terminus was relocated to Exchange Square.
- 1 September 1993: Operation of this route was taken over by Citybus as one of the first 28 routes (Network 26) to be taken over from CMB and was upgraded to fully air-conditioned service.
- 1994: This route was originally intended to be merged with Route 12M and passenger notices were issued, but the status quo was maintained due to opposition from Mid-Levels passengers.
- 20 September 1995: Central Terminus moved from Central (Exchange Square) to Central Ferry Piers.
- 30 August 1998: Octopus fare payment was accepted for the entire route.[6]
- 21 June 2002: The terminus was relocated from Central Ferry Piers Bus Terminus to Pier 5 for the convenience of ferry passengers.[7]
- 18 April 2003: Changed to operate from Central (Pier No. 3) before 09:30 daily to replace the service of Route M16; while the routing for Robinson Road was detoured via Admiralty (Tamar Street).
- 30 August 2004: The morning detour via Admiralty was cancelled as the section between Central Ferry Pier and Admiralty was already covered by Route No. 2.
- 15 August 2005: Octopus interchange concession with Route R11 was introduced.[8]
- 12 November 2006: Additional stop at "Central (Pier No. 7)" towards Robinson Road.[9][10]
- 2007: Citybus tried out the stop announcement system on this route.
- 18 October 2009: Central terminus was relocated back to Central Ferry Piers to tie in with the reorganisation of bus routes at Central Pier following the introduction of the Rickshaw Sightseeing Bus services.
- 14 July 2013: Following the permanent cancellation of NWFB Route 23A, the following changes were implemented:[11]
- Buses towards Robinson Road were diverted upwards via Queen's Road Central, D'Aguilar Street, Wellington Street, Lyndhurst Street, Hollywood Road and Arbuthnot Road, instead of Kennedy Road and Upper Albert Road. As a result, a special departure from Central (Star Ferry) to Kennedy Heights in one direction has been added to NWFB Route 15C from Monday to Friday mornings (now cancelled) to serve passengers affected by this change.
- After reaching Garden Road towards Central Ferry Piers, divert via Des Voeux Road Central, Ice House Street and Connaught Road Central, replacing the previous routing via Queen's Road Central and Pedder Street. The old routing is used on Sundays and public holidays as Ice House Street is designated as a pedestrian-only zone.
- New Octopus interchange discount with Routes No. 5 (now discontinued), 5B, 10 and 26 were introduced.
- 28 September 2014 afternoon to 11 December 2014: Service was suspended due to the Umbrella Revolution rally in the Occupied Area in Admiralty, to resume normal on 12 December.
- 12 April 2015: Departures to Central Ferry Piers on Sundays and Public Holidays were diverted to stop at "Cheung Kong Center" instead of the original stop at "HSBC Main Building"; the latter arrangement was maintained when heading to Robinson Road.[12]
- 17 May 2015: New Octopus free interchange discount with Route 12M was introduced to tie in with the discontinuation of Route 3B.[13]
- 1 June 2016: "Next Bus" Arrival Enquiry Service was introduced to this route.[14]
- 14 August 2022: All trips were changed to terminate at Central Pier 3; after the morning peak hours from Mondays to Fridays, buses would detour via Admiralty (Tamar Street), Park Road and Castle Road for whole day on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays, omit Seymour Road north of Castle Road, and divert via Connaught Road Central between Jackson Road and Man Kwong Street for Central direction, to tie in with the change of service hours of Route 12M to only from 07:00 - 08:55 on Mondays to Fridays.[15][16]
Historical route information[]
Details of the past service hours and headways, fares and other route information of this route are set out in the "Historical route information" sub-page of this article.
Service Hours and Headways[]
The latest update is on 8/2022, please refer to the link below for the official route information.
| from Central Pier 3 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Hrs | Mins | |
| Mondays to Fridays | ||
| The following departures omit Admiralty, Park Road, Castle Road and Connaught Road Central | ||
| 06 | 45 | |
| 07 | 00, 15, 35, 55 | |
| 08 | 15, 35, 55 | |
| The following departures resume original routing | ||
| 09 | 15, 30, 52 | |
| 10 | 14, 39, 54 | |
| 11 | 14, 34, 54 | |
| 12 | 14, 29, 54 | |
| 13 | 14, 34, 59 | |
| 14 | 09, 34, 54 | |
| 15 | 14、39, 54 | |
| 16 | 14, 34, 54 | |
| 17 | 19, 29, 54 | |
| 18 | 14, 34, 59 | |
| 19 | 09, 34, 54 | |
| 20 | 14, 39, 54 | |
| 21 | 14, 34, 54 | |
| 22 | 19、34、50 | |
| 23 | 06, 23, 36 | |
| Saturdays | ||
| 06 | 45 | |
| 07 | 09, 34, 54 | |
| 08 | 14, 34, 54 | |
| 09 | 14, 30, 52 | |
| 10 - 19 | 12, 32, 52 | |
| 20 | 17, 37, 52 | |
| 21 | 12, 32, 52 | |
| 22 | 10, 30, 50 | |
| 23 | 06, 21, 36 | |
| Sundays and Public Holidays | ||
| 06 | 45 | |
| 07 | 09, 34, 54 | |
| 08 | 14, 34, 54 | |
| 09 | 14, 30, 54 | |
| 10 - 19 | 16, 36, 56 | |
| 20 | 16, 36, 54 | |
| 21 | 14, 34, 54 | |
| 22 | 05, 25, 50 | |
| 23 | 10, 30 | |
- This route provides "Next Bus" Arrival Time Enquiry Service.
Fares[]
| Journey/Boarding Stop | Fares |
|---|---|
| Full Fare | $5.3 |
| Fare Remarks |
|---|
|
Bus-Bus Interchange Concession Schemes[]
Passengers using the same Octopus card or account of the same electronic payment instrument to interchange to the designated route after this route within a specific time, or transfer from the designated route to this route can enjoy an interchange concession. The details are as follows: (Half discount for children and senior citizens.) Template:Citybus Route 12 Interchange Concession Scheme
Bus Deployments[]
This route is operated by three double-decker buses in the morning and four in the afternoon; the main vehicles are Enviro400 10.5m (7000-7059), Enviro500 MMC 11.3m (9108-9148) and Volvo B9TL 11.3m (9500-9559).
Some of the vehicles will be parked at Central Ferry Piers after arriving at Central Pier 3 to clear passengers until the next round of passenger service begins.
Bus Deployment Evolution History[]
Due to the winding nature of the roads in the mid-levels, short buses, such as the Guy Arab V, were only used on this route for a long time. In the 1980s, the route's vehicles was replaced by Daimler Jumbo (LF) and Leyland Victory II (LV).
In 1993, this route was upgraded to fully air-conditioned service when Citybus took over it, using mainly Leyland Olympian and Volvo Olympian 10.4m (2XX, commonly known as "Short Leyland" and "Short Volvo" respectively) and Dennis Dragon 10.3m (7XX). The year 1994 saw the introduction of the Mitsubishi MP618 (1205) as a demonstrator bus. In 1998, the larger MAN NL262 (15XX) came into service and became its main vehicle, supplemented by the Volvo B6LE (1332-1361) with Jit Luen body.
When the need arose on other routes, Citybus sometimes arranged for a double-decker bus to run on this route, initially the Leyland Olympian and Volvo Olympian 10.4m (2XX, commonly known as the "Short Leyland" and "Short Volvo" respectively), the Denmis Dragon 10.3m (7XX) or the Volvo Olympian 11m (9XX/90XX). With the retirement of all these buses, most of them are now Enviro400 10.5m (7002-7059) and Enviro500 MMC 11.3m (9100-9148), occasionally Volvo B9TL 11.3m (95XX) and in addition to the conversion of the Young Man JNP6105GRs into training buses in 2020, the first two have gradually becoming the main vehicles.
In 2012 and 2015, the Volvo B6LE and MAN NL262 buses were retired and replaced by the Young Man JNP6105GR 10.5m (1810-1825) and the JNP6120GR 11.6m (1830-1845) single-deckers of the same manufacturer.
On this route, Citybus also used two of the Chinese electric buses, namely the BYD K9R (1582) and the Shandong Chinese brand Yixing SDL6120EVG (1585), which were introduced with funding from the Environmental Protection Department. The former is the second fully-electric single-decker bus owned by Citybus, which made its maiden trip on this route on 28 December 2015 and became a scheduled bus of this route (with a "This vehicle is only available on Route 12" sticker on the right side of the driving cab). The latter was due to commence service on 12 September 2016, but the bus company called off the inaugural service on the grounds of a problem with the drop-off bell.[17] The first passenger service was eventually delayed until 2 June of the following year.
With the end of the trial period in 2019, the two electric buses were diverted to run on Route 11 from 25 May onwards.
On 14 August 2022, in line with the switch to Monday to Friday morning peak service of Route 12M, the entire route was reassigned with double-decker buses, making the single-decker buses that had been on the route since 1995 obsolete.
Routing[]
| Routing | Roads observed |
| ① Regular |
The distance of this route is approx. 11.5km, and the journey time is approximately 70mins. (The average speed is 9.9km/h.) Man Kwong Street, Man Yiu Street, Harbour View Street, Central Bus Terminus, Connaught Road Central, Harcourt Road, Harcourt Road, slip road of Cotton Tree Drive, Queensway, Tamar Street, Harcourt Road, Cotton Tree Drive, Queensway, Queen's Road Central, D'Aguilar Street, Wellington Street, Pendulum Street Flower Street, Hollywood Road, Arbuthnot Road, Caine Road, Bonham Road, Park Road, Robinson Road, Castle Road, Seymour Road, Robinson Road, Garden Road, Flyover, Queensway, Tamar Street, Harcourt Road #, slip road of Cotton Tree Drive, Lambeth Walk, Chater Road, Jackson Road, Connaught Road Central and Man Kwong Street # Subject to traffic conditions, buses can detour via Drake Street, Admiralty (West) Bus Terminus, Drake Street, without making any stops. |
|---|---|
| ②* Weekday AM omit Admiralty and Park Road |
The distance of this route is approx. 7.5km, and the journey time is approximately 50mins. (The average speed is 9km/h.) ......, Harcourt Road, Cotton Tree Drive, Fringe, Queensway Central, D'Aguilar Street, ......, Caine Road, Seymour Road, Robinson Road, Garden Road, Des Voeux Road Central, Ice House Street, Connaught Road Central, Connaught Place, Man Yiu Street and Man Kwong Street |
| ③# Temporary Diversion omit Lan Kwai Fong |
......, Cotton Tree Drive, Queen's Road Central, Pedder Street, Connaught Road Central, Harcourt Road, Cotton Tree Drive, Kennedy Road, Upper Albert Road, Caine Road, Bonham Road, ...... |
| ④% Weedkay AM temporary diversion omit Lan Kwai Fong |
......, Harcourt Road, Cotton Tree Drive, Footbridge, Queensway Central, Pedder Street, Connaught Road Central, Harcourt Road, Cotton Tree Drive, Kennedy Road, Upper Albert Road, Caine Road, Seymour Road, Robinson Road, Garden Road, Des Voeux Road Central, Ice House Street, Connaught Road Central, Connaught Place, Man Yiu Street and Man Kwong Street |
| Citybus Route 12 (Central Pier 3 ↺ Robinson Road/Park Road) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Area | Road | Bus Stop Name | Remarks |
| 1 | Central Ferry Piers | Man Kwong Street | Central Pier 3 | |
| 2 | Central Pier 5 | |||
| 3 | Central (Star Ferry) | |||
| 4 | Central | Central (Exchange Square)  |
||
| 5 | Connaught Road Central | Jardine House |
||
| 6 | Admiralty | Tamar Street | Admiralty - Tamar Street |
Not applicable to departures using routings ② and ④ |
| 7 | Central | Queen's Road Central | HSBC Main Building | |
| # | Central | Pedder Street | Pedder Street |
Applicable to departures using Routings ③ and ④ |
| Admiralty | Cotton Tree Drive | Hong Kong Park | Applicable to departures using Routings ③ and ④ Near Garden Road Peak Tram Terminus | |
| Mid-levels | Kennedy Road | Kennedy Heights | Applicable to departures using Routings ③ and ④ | |
| 8 | Central | D'Aguilar Street | Lan Kwai Fong | Not applicable to departures using routings ③ and ④ |
| 9 | Lyndhurst Terrace | Lyndhurst Terrace | ||
| 10 | Hollywood Road | Tai Kwun | ||
| 11 | Arbuthnot Road | The Centrium | ||
| 12 | Mid-levels | Caine Road | Caritas Centre | |
| 13 | Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum | |||
| 14 | Ladder Street | Near Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences | ||
| 15 | Seymour Road | |||
| 16 | Bonham Road | Euston Court | Not applicable to departures using Routing ② and ④ Near David Trench Rehabilitation Centre | |
| 17 | Eastern Street (s) |
Not applicable to departures using Routings ② and ④ | ||
| 18 | Park Road | St. Stephen's Girls College | Circular route return point for Routings ① and ③ Not applicable to departures using Routings ② and ④ | |
| 19 | Euston Court | Not applicable to departures using Routings ② and ④ | ||
| 20 | Robinson Road | Ying Wa Girls' School | ||
| 21 | Peaksville | |||
| 22 | Castle Road | Merry Terrace | ||
| * | Mid-levels | Seymour Road | Jadestone Court | Applicable to departures using Routings ② and ④ |
| Castle Road | ||||
| 23 | Mid-levels | Seymour Road | Robinson Road | Circular Route Return Point for Routings ② and ④ |
| 24 | Robinson Road | Raimondi College | ||
| 25 | Garden Terrace | |||
| 26 | Garden Road | Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens | Compulsory Stop | |
| 27 | Central | St. John's Cathedral | ||
| 28 | Admiralty | Tamar Street | Admiralty - Tamar Street |
Not applicable to departures using routings ② and ④ |
| 29 | Central | Connaught Road Central | Statue Square |
Not applicable to departures using Routings ② and ④ Near The Cenotaph, City Hall, City Gallery |
| 30 | Queen Victoria Street |
Not applicable to departures using Routings ② and ④ | ||
| 31 | Jubilee Street
| |||
| 32 | Wing Wo Street
| |||
| * | Central | Ice House Street | Alexandra House |
Applicable to departures using routings ② and ④ |
| Man Yiu Street | Two International Finance Centre
| |||
| 33 | Central Ferry Piers | Man Kwong Street | Central Pier 3 | |
Ridership[]
Route 12 provides a service Route to Central from Caine Road and Robinson Road in the Mid-Levels area, but overlaps with a number of routes along the route, thus thinning out the patronage.
According to the Bus Route Planning Programme (BRPP) and other information, the patronage of this route is as follows:
- 1993 (CMB): The monthly patronage was 99,038.[18]
- 2005: The average occupancy in the peak direction was 17% during peak hours and only 10% during off-peak hours.
- 2007: The highest occupancy rate was 35% in the morning peak period.
- 2008: The maximum occupancy rate was 51% in the morning peak period.
- 2009: The maximum passenger rate was 51%; after 9pm there were only about 30 passengers, with an occupancy rate of less than 4%.
- In 2010: the average number of passengers per trip was only about 10, especially during the off-peak period, which was described as "low patronage". [22]
- 2012: The occupancy rate was 7-68% during peak hours and 3-30% during off-peak hours.
- 2013: The maximum occupancy rate was 46% during peak hours and 41% during off-peak hours.
- 2015: Before the opening of the MTR Island Line West Extension, the average occupancy rate during the busiest half hour was 59%, while after the opening it was 53%, recording a drop in patronage.[19]
- 2018: The occupancy rate was 53% in the busiest hour.
- 2022: The peak hour occupancy rate was 86%.
As a result, Citybus had proposed a number of reorganisations and mergers of this route, but most of these had been withdrawn due to opposition from residents in the Mid-Levels:
- 1994: Suggested to be merged with Route 12M.
- 2003: Suggested to be merged with Route 3B, but was also shelved due to opposition from Mid-Levels residents.
- 2008: Suggested to be cancelled and replaced by Route 13 and relocation of terminus to Central Ferry Piers.
- 2009: Suggested to advance the last bus time to 21:00.
- 2010: Suggested to change to peak hour-only service.
- 2012: NWFB proposed to cancel Route 23A with a low ridership and replace it with a modified version of this route towards Mid-levels with effect from 14 July 2013, with additional Octopus interchange concessions introduced on the same day; and the service for Kennedy Road was replaced by a special departure from Central (Star Ferry) to Kennedy Heights on Mondays to Fridays morning by Route 15C in one direction (cancelled since 27 July 2015).
- 2022: Suggested that all trips would terminate at Central Pier 3; all departures after the morning peak hours from Mondays to Fridays, and for the whole day during Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays would detour via Admiralty (Tamar Street), Bonham Road, Park Road and Castle Road on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays, and omit Seymour Road north of Castle Road to tie in with the service reduction of Route 12M; the whole route would be served by double-decker buses instead, and additional interchange concession with Route 13 would be introduced as well. This was eventually approved and implemented on 14 August of the same year.
- In 2016, the Traffic and Transport Committee of the Central and Western District Council passed a motion to extend the route to Central (Rumsey Street) or Macau Ferry to fill the service gap between the Mid-levels and Sheung Wan business district after the cessation of services of Route 3B.[20]
Related Incidents[]
- 1 November 2008: At around 00:00, a MAN NL262 (1512/HU2412), which was returning to the depot after running this route as a deadheading bus, suddenly caught fire at the rear of the bus near Tai Hong Street during its journey along the Island Eastern Corridor with the entire rear end seriously burnt, but no one was injured. Due to the serious damage sustained, the bus was not repaired and was withdrawn from service early on 8 May of the following year.
Gallery[]
Remarks[]
- ↑ The Dominicans Catholic Seminary was located at today's Merry Terrace.
Related Articles[]
- CMB Route 3 (Cancelled)
- Citybus Route 3B (Cancelled)
- Citybus Route 12M
- Citybus Route 13
- NWFB Route 23A (Cancelled)
- Citybus Route 40M
- Citybus Route M16 (Cancelled)
References[]
- ↑ 羅便臣道 今晨開始通車 (Robinson Road to open this morning), Wah Kiu Yat Po, 16 Aug 1955.
- ↑ 港島六條巴士線 今夜起延長尾班 (6 HKI bus routes to extend last bus hours from tonight), Ta Kung Pao, 1 Apr 1959.
- ↑ 紅棉路今日通車 半山區四巴士綫行車路綫略更改 (Cotton Tree Drive to open todat, 4 Mid-levels Bus Routes to alter routing slightly), Wah Kiu Yat Po, 14 Nov 1970.
- ↑ 中區新建巴士總站 明晨六時實行啟用 (New bus terminus in Central to be opened tomorrow 6am), Wah Kiu Yat Po, 10 Sep 1972.
- ↑ 公共交通優先使用道路計劃 港島中區本週實施 多綫巴士改道行駛 (Public transport priority scheme for Central in Hong Kong Island to be implemented this week, several bus routes rerouted), Wah Kiu Yat Po, 4 Oct 1982.
- ↑ Citybus Latest Information: Good News for Octopus card users(4)! 八達通用者好消息(4) !, 利樂街巴士總站.
- ↑ Transport Department HKSARG, "Re-routeing of bus routes 2, 11, 12 and 511" [Traffic Advice].
- ↑ Citybus Limited, "Citybus To Introduce Four New Routes to HK Disneyland & Offer Free Interchange between 23 HK Island Routes and Route R11" [News Release], 14 August 2005.
- ↑ Transport Department HKSARG, "渡輪服務由愛丁堡廣場搬遷往中環七號及八號碼頭的交通及運輸安排" (Traffic and Transport Arangements after the Relocation of Ferry Services from Edinburgh Square to Central Pier Nos. 7 and 8) [Traffic Advice], 10 October 2006.
- ↑ Citybus Limited & New World First Bus Services Limited, "配合中環渡輪服務遷移 城巴新巴七線實施新安排" (New Service Arrangements of 7 Citybus and NWFB Routes to facilitate with the relocation of Central Ferry services) [News Release], 10 November 2006.
- ↑ Citybus Limited, "Route 12 Permanent Re-routeing arrangements" [Passenger Notice], 8 July 2013.
- ↑ Citybus Limited, "路線12皇后大道中巴士站重組安排" (Route 12 Bus Stop Rationalisation at Queen's Road Central) [Passenger Notice], 8 April 2015.
- ↑ Citybus Limited & New World First Bus Services Limited, "新巴4、43X、46X號線 城巴3B及70號系列路線重組安排" [News Release], 15 May 2015.
- ↑ Citybus Limited, "Citybus Offers Additional Fare Concessions “Next Bus” Arrival Time Enquiry Service Trial begins on 8 routes" [News Release], 20 May 2016.
- ↑ Citybus Limited & New World First Bus Services Limited, "New Service Arrangements for Citybus Route 12, 12M and NWFB Route 13" [News Release], 10 August 2022.
- ↑ Transport Department HKSARG, "Service Adjustment of CTB Route No. 12 (Central Ferry Piers – Robinson Road (Circular))" [Traffic Advice], 12 August 2022.
- ↑ 落車鐘撳極唔停？神龍電動巴未行先叫停 (Non-stop ringing after pressing bell button? Yixing electric buses suspended service before debut)，, Apple Daily, 12 Sep 2016
- ↑ (1990s) 中巴1993年5月- 廣告收費表及客量數據 ((1990s) CMB May 1993 - Advertised Fare Tables and Patronage Figures)), hkitalk.net.
- ↑ Transport Department HKSARG, 配合西港島線通車的公共交通服務之最新修訂重組計劃 (Public Transport Re-organisation Plans to tie in with the Commissioning of the West Island Line), Jan 2015.
- ↑ 中西區區議會第三次交通及運輸委員會第三次會議之動議、修訂動議及再修訂動議 (Motions, Amendments and Further Amendments to the Third Meeting of the Third Traffic and Transport Committee of the Central and Western District Council), 7 Apr 2016.
External Links[]
- Citybus Official Route Information: 12 (to Robinson Road/Park Road)
- Citybus Official Route Information: 12 (to Central Pier 3)
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Template:List of Central and Western District Bus Routes