The defunct Hong Kong Island Mid-Levels Bus Route 3B was operated by Citybus. It ran between Central (Rumsey Street) and Pokfield Road, via Connaught Road Central and Caine Road on the outbound journey and via Park Road, Robinson Road and Des Voeux Road Central on the return journey, serving the Mid-Levels and the University of Hong Kong campus in the Central and Western District.
This route was formerly known as CMB Route 3 and was taken over by Citybus in 1997 when CMB abandoned its operation as a new route.
History[]
- The main article of this section is CMB Route No. 3.
The predecessor of this route, CMB Route No. 3, suffered from a serious shortfall in patronage at the end of the CMB franchised bus history, resulting in losses over the years,[Source Request]. As a result, the company decided to cease the four routes in 1997 and Citybus, which was expanding at the time, decided to take over the four routes by introducing new routes under the original service arrangement.
Route 3 was the last of the four routes to be cancelled until 2 June 1997, when it was officially discontinued. Citybus immediately introduced Route 3B on the same day, with the same routing as the original Route 3 and upgraded to a fully air-conditioned bus service.
Service History[]
- 2 June 1997: Route 3B came into service to replace CMB Route No. 3 which was cancelled on that day.
- 15 August 2005: Octopus interchange concession with Route R11 was introduced.[1]
- 28 September 2014 afternoon to 11 December 2014: Service on this route was suspended due to the Umbrella Revolution rally in the occupied areas of Admiralty and resumed until 12 December.
- 17 May 2015: Service was cancelled and replaced by a new free Octopus interchange concession between Routes 12 and 12M.[2]
Service Hours and Headways[]
Information on discontinuation (May 2015)[]
The latest update is on 1/2015, please refer to the link below for the official route information.
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Earlier Information[]
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| Effective 21 July 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Effective 16 July 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Fares[]
| Historical Fare Change of Route 3B | ||
| Fare Adjustment Effective Date | Full Fare | Section Fare |
|---|---|---|
| 1 December 1997 | $4.3 | No section fares |
| 2 June 1997 | $4.1 | No section fares |
Octopus Interchange Concession Scheme[]
Passengers using the same Octopus card 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.)
| Route 3B (Central (Rumsey Street) → Pokfield Road) Related Interchange Concessions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From other routes to Route 3B (to Pokfield Road) | |||||
| Major target | 1st leg | Concession | Interchange location | Time limit | Remarks |
| Airport → Mid-levels | A11 (from Airport) | Free | City Hall | 120mins | Effective from 27 January 2002 [3] |
| Route 3B (Pokfield Road → Central (Rumsey Street)) Related Interchange Concessions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interchange from Route 3B (from Pokfield Road) to other routes | |||||
| Major target | 2ndleg | Concession | Interchange location | Time limit | Remarks |
| Mid-levels → Airport | A11, A12 (to Airport) | 1st leg fare rebate | Pottinger Street | 90mins | Effective from 27 January 2002 [3] |
Bus Deployments[]
Before this route was discontinued, four buses were used[4], with Volvo Olympian 11m (9XX/90XX), Dennis Trident 10.6m (2700 demonstrator bus) and Enviro400 10.5m (70XX) double-deckers as the mainstay on weekday trips, as well as MAN NL262 11.7m (15XX) or Young Man JNP6105GR 10.6m (1810-1825) single-deckers as mainstay on holiday trips.
Bus Deployment History[]
This route was mainly served by single-deck air-conditioned buses, including the Volvo B6LE (13XX), Dennis Dart (14XX, retired) and MAN NL262 (15XX), while the Leyland Olympian and Volvo Olympian 10.4m (2XX, commonly known as the "Short Leyland" and "Short Volvo" respectively), Dennis Dragon 10.3m (7XX) and Volvo Olympian 11m (9XX/90XX) double-decker buses also run on this route from time to time.
Around summer 2008, double-decker buses became more common on this route, with almost all trips from Monday to Friday being run by double-deck buses; Saturday and holiday trips remained single-deck buses, with Volvo B6LE 10.6m (13XX, which also appears occasionally on weekdays) and MAN NL262 11.7m (15XX) being the mainstay.
Both the "Short Leyland" and the "Short Volvo" buses were retired from the franchised fleet in 2011 and 2012 respectively, with the Enviro400 10.5m (70XX) being deployed on this route from Monday to Friday from 13 February 2012. The successor, the Young Man JNP6105GR 10.6m (1810-1825), has become a popular vehicle for this route on Saturdays and holidays. Due to the increase in patronage (in particular, the cancellation of route 23A on 14 July 2013 and the diversion of Route 12 to the Mid-Levels via Lan Kwai Fong and Arbuthnot Road, which led to passengers travelling on this route from Central to Cotton Tree Drive and Kennedy Road switching to this route or Route 12A), Citybus imposed a ban on the use of single-decker buses on this route in January 2013[5][6] (but the ban has been occassionally "broken"[7]). The ban was lifted in September of the same year.
In July 2013, after the merger of Route 85 with Route 529, the Dennis Trident 10.6m (2700 demonstrator bus), which had been running on Route 85 on a fixed basis, had to take the 1:8 slope of Fortress Hill Road up the hill and was unable to cope with the slope, so it was changed to run on this route and Route 103 on 22 July 2013.
Routing[]
The distance of this route is approx. 5.9km, and the journey time is approximately 29mins. (The average speed is 12.2km/h.)
to Pokfield Road[]
Via: Man Kat Street access, Man Kat Street, Connaught Road Central, Harcourt Road, Cotton Tree Drive, Kennedy Road, Upper Albert Road, Caine Road, Bonham Road and Pok Fu Lam Road
| Citybus Route 3B (Central (Rumsey Street) → Pokfield Road) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Area | Road | Bus Stop Name | Remarks |
| 1 | Sheung Wan | Central (Rumsey Street)  |
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| 2 | Central | Connaught Road Central | Jardine House |
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| 3 | City Hall |  Interchange from Route A11
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| 4 | Mid-levels | Cotton Tree Drive | Hong Kong Park | |
| 5 | Kennedy Road | Kennedy Heights | ||
| 6 | Caine Road | Caritas Centre | ||
| 7 | Sun Yat-sen Museum | |||
| 8 | Ladder Street | |||
| 9 | Seymour Road | |||
| 10 | Bonham Road | Euston Court | ||
| 11 | Eastern Street |
|||
| 12 | Centre Street | |||
| 13 | HKU East Gate | |||
| 14 | HKU | Pok Fu Lam Road | HKU West Gate |
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| 15 | Lady Ho Tung Hall | |||
| 16 | Pok Fu Lam | Pokfield Road | ||
to Central (Rumsey Street)[]
Via: Pok Fu Lam Road, Bonham Road, Park Road, Robinson Road, Garden Road, Des Voeux Road Central, Wing Wo Street, Connaught Road Central, Man Kat Street Access and Man Kat Street
| Citybus Route 3B (Pokfield Road → Central (Rumsey Street)) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Area | Road | Bus Stop Name | Remarks |
| 1 | Pok Fu Lam | Pokfield Road | ||
| 2 | Pok Fu Lam Road | Pokfield Road | ||
| 3 | HKU | Lady Ho Tung Hall | ||
| 4 | The Chiu Sheung School Hong Kong |
|||
| 5 | Mid-levels | Bonham Road | King's College | |
| 6 | Ning Yeung Terrace | |||
| 7 | Park Road | St. Stephen's Girls College | ||
| 8 | Euston Court | |||
| 9 | Robinson Road | Ying Wa Girls' School | ||
| 10 | Peaksville | |||
| 11 | Seymour Road | |||
| 12 | Raimondi College | |||
| 13 | Garden Terrace | |||
| 14 | Garden Road | Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens | Compulsory Stop | |
| 15 | Central | St. John's Cathedral | ||
| 16 | Des Voeux Road Central | The Landmark |
Interchange to Routes A11 and A12
| |
| 17 | Central Market | |||
| 18 | Sheung Wan | Central (Rumsey Street) |
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Ridership[]
This route overlaps with Routes 12 and 40M, and the Central to Mid-Levels escalator system facilitates commuting between the Mid-Levels and Central. With the full opening of the MTR West Island Line, an exit from Sai Ying Pun Station to Bonham Road has exacerbated the situation and the route was eventually discontinued as originally planned.
According to the Bus Route Development Programme (BRDP) and other documents, the patronage of this route is as follows:
- 2005: The average occupancy in the peak direction was 25% in the peak period and only 10% in the off-peak period.
- 2006: The average occupancy was 48% in the peak direction and 19% in the off-peak direction.
- 2009: Maximum occupancy rate was 63%; only about 130 passengers were carried after 8pm, an occupancy rate of less than 6%.
- 2011: 20-32% occupancy during the morning peak.
- 2014: The average occupancy rate was about 46% during peak hours and about 31% during off-peak hours.[8]
- 2015: Before the opening of the MTR West Island Line, the average occupancy rate during the busiest half-hour was 65%, while after the opening of the line, it was 23%, recording a drop in patronage.[9]
Controversies[]
This route is the only route in Mid-Levels that observes Sheung Wan and passes through areas not covered by MTR, such as Caine Road and Robinson Road, but was cancelled due to the "Public Transport Service Reorganisation Plan to tie in with the opening of the West Island Line". In 2016, the Traffic and Transport Committee of the Central and Western District Council passed a motion requesting the extension of Route 12 or 13 to Central (Rumsey Street) or Macau Ferry to fill the gap. [9]
Subsequently, NWFB proposed to extend Route 13 to Central (Rumsey Street) and increase its frequency in the 2018-2019 Bus Route Planning Programme as compensation. However, the proposal involved a reduction in the frequency of Routes 12 and 12M, which was particularly opposed by District Councillors, and the rationalisation was shelved.
In the 2022-2023 Bus Route Planning Programme, NWFB has proposed to change the frequency of Route 12M to operate during the morning peak hours from Mondays to Fridays (except public holidays) only, and to terminate all trips of Route 12 at Central Pier 3; after the morning peak hours from Mondays to Fridays, the route would be diverted via Admiralty (Tamar Street), Park Road and Castle Road on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and omit Seymour Road north of Castle Road to Central Ferry Piers, providing public transport service to Sheung Wan for the Mid-Levels area via Connaught Road Central and Man Kwong Street in the direction of Central Ferry Piers, which was eventually approved and implemented on 14 August 2022.
Related Incidents[]
News video (Apple Daily)
- 28 November 2010: At night, a Volvo B6LE (13XX) heading towards Pokfield Road overtook the front car by crossing the reverse lane at Bonham Road near David Trench Rehabilitation Centre, and the incident was caught on camera by a private car following the car and uploaded to YouTube.[10]
Gallery[]
Past Route Maps[]
Archived by EBTHK
Related Articles[]
- CMB Route 3 (Cancelled)
- Citybus Route 12
- Citybus Route 13
- Citybus Route 40M
Notes and References[]
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Citybus Limited, "Routes 3B, 12 & 12M Route Alternations at Mid-Levels District" [Passenger Notice], 8 May 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cityflyer - HKI Routes Interchange Scheme, Citybus website.
- ↑ see 2011-2012 Central and Western District Bus Route Development Programme.
- ↑ 有關本年度中西區巴士路線發展計劃事宜 (Matters relating to this year's Central and Western District Bus Route Development Programme), Central and Western District Council Traffic and Transport Committee Paper No. 19/2013 (Annex I)
- ↑ Prior to the ban, a single-deck bus would first depart from Wah Fu (Central) at 06:40am on every school day on Route 41A in the morning and then stop at Central (Rumsey Street) after two trips on the Route 260 between 7am and 11am, before running on this route at 4pm. After the ban, single-deck buses on this running order were swapped away at Rumsey Street Bus Terminus.
- ↑ On 12 June (Dragon Boat Festival), as most of the short-bodied buses in the Citybus fleet were redeployed to Stanley to divert the crowds from the Dragon Boat Races, this route was once fully serviced by single-decker buses.
- ↑ 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"), Annex 5, Jan 2014.
- ↑ 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"), Central and Western District Council Traffic and Transport Committee Paper No. 2/2015, January 2015.
- ↑ 城巴越雙白線亡命爬頭 (Citybus crosses double white line and overtoook front car dangerously), Apple Daily, 1 December 2010.
External Links[]
Websites[]
- Citybus Official Route Information: 3B (archived 10 May 2015)
- Citybus Official Website Route 3B Information (PDF Route Map) (Archived 10 May 2015)
Template:List of Cancelled Central and Western District Bus Routes