Green minibus

A Toyota Coaster diesel green minibus with a electronic sign on the front displaying route number and destination

Green Minibus (專綫小巴), abbr. GMB, formally known as Public Light Bus (Scheduled) Service (公共小巴（專綫）服務), also known as GMB and Green Maxicab formally), commonly known as "Green Van" or "Green Top" (「綠Van」、「綠頂」, etc.), is a member of the public light buses whose main function is to operate a supplementary public transport service in areas where the number of passengers is insufficient to operate a franchised bus service, or where it is more difficult for other modes of public transport to access.

Unlike red minibuses, which are widely known as "public light buses", green minibuses are regulated by the Transport Department, and are required to provide service according to fixed routes, frequenc/headways and fares, which is more efficient than the "king-less" red minibus operations; and the average daily carrying capacity of red minibuses is nearly 40% lower than that of green minibuses per vehicle. On average, on a per PLB basis, the average daily patronage of red PLBs is nearly 40% lower than that of green PLBs.

As of late-December 2023, there were 3,317 licensed GMBs in Hong Kong, accounting for 76.2% of the total number of PLBs. And as of June 2023, there are 355 GMB primary routes and 193 supplementary routes, carrying an average of about 1.306 million passengers per day in 2023.

History

During the Riots in Hong Kong in 1967, bus drivers went on strike, leading to the collapse of franchised bus services, and the Pak Pai buses (白牌車) came into being, and became increasingly popular with the public. The Government then allowed Pak Pai buses to enter the urban areas, and in 1969 approved an increase in the number of seats from 9 to 14, and introduced the policy of legalising Pak Pai buses as red minibuses, which could operate in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories.

The red minibus system could be described as an extraordinary policy of the government to indulge in illegal practices, and a kind of capitulation to the reality of the time, where the government had no way of regulating the services. To remedy the situation, the Government introduced the Super Public Light Bus (豪華公共小型巴士) system on a trial basis in 1972 in an attempt to regulate PLB services. The Peak was first used as a pilot scheme, with the operation of Hong Kong Island GMB Route 1 (The Peak ↔ Central (Tamar)) granted directly to Yuen Chiu, a businessman who had served as Governor Sir Mark Young's driver, and was put into service on 1 May of the same year.

The green minibus (GMB) system was formally introduced in 1974, with operators of routes 2 to 8 on Hong Kong Island proposing to the authorities to operate them; after approval, GMB route operating rights are granted in the form of a franchise, with the successful operator initially running a trial of a group of routes for up to three months; and, if the trial is successful, a three-year franchise would granted to the operator, which could be renewed at the end of the period. The Transport Department then planned luxury minibus services for the New Territories the following year, with 14 routes, with minibus traders applying for permission to operate.

In 1978, a tender system was first used to select green minibus (GMB) operators, with the Transport Department (TD) offering 65 routes for bidding by interested businessmen, which, if successful, was expected to absorb some 300 red minibuses for conversion to GMBs. The government deliberately arranged for the new routes to be divided into groups of routes, each including potentially profitable and unprofitable routes, in order to cross-subsidize each other and formally tendered out the first six groups of 10 routes on 19 May. The first GMB routes in the New Territories came into service in Sai Kung District in November 1979, with the selection of operators through a tender process, while the first GMB routes in Kowloon began serving the public in April 1979, but the earliest batch of GMB routes were introduced to serve the public.

However, most of the earliest GMB routes were difficult to operate, with some routes being suspended after only two weeks due to insufficient patronage; by 1980, only two routes on Hong Kong Island, 1 and 4, were making a profitAfter the Road Traffic Ordinance was amended in 1984, the Government replaced the franchise with a Passenger Service License system to regulate GMB routes. The Transport Department (TD) conducts mid-term reviews with the operators every 18 months to review the service level of each group of routes, and the results are used to decide on the renewal of passenger service licenses. Operators with poor service standards can be warned by shortening the validity period of their licenses, and in serious cases, their franchises can be revoked.

The green minibus policy began to take effect in the late 1980s, with about 1,300 red minibuses converted to green minibuses in 1989, accounting for nearly 30% of the total number of public light buses (4,350), operating on 185 green minibus routes. As the public demand for public transportation continues to rise with the development of the times, in addition to GMBs being used for short-distance connections and serving remote areas, the government has since August 1990 invited tenders for routes that partially overlap with those of franchised buses with a view to bringing in competition to enhance the overall level of public transportation services.

According to the Arrangements for the provision of local public transport services at the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge announced by the Transport Department (TD) in early 2017, it is intended that an additional green minibus (GMB) route will be provided between HZMB Hong Kong Port and the Tung Chung Station after the commissioning of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB). The revised scheme in May of the same year shelved the proposal for a GMB route to and from Tung Chung Station and replaced it with a franchised bus operation, and proposed an additional GMB route to circulate between the HZMB Hong Kong Port and Tung Chung (Ying Tung Estate) via the AsiaWorld-Expo, the Airport Logistics Area and Tung Chung North, which was gazetted for public tender use on 28 July 2017 , the route was finally awarded to Coronet Ray Development, a subsidiary of Kwoon Chung Bus, and was numbered Route 901, which came into service on 24 October, the day of the commissioning of the HZMB in 2018, becoming the first green minibus (GMB) route on the Islands District, with the GMB route network now covers all 18 districts in Hong Kong.

Route planning

Unlike red minibuses (RMBs), which are routed by the trade associations themselves and customised unregulated routes, the new GMB routes were developed by the Transport Department (TD). In planning and introducing new GMB services and supplementary routes, TD will take into account the following factors:

• The prevailing and forecast transport demand and traffic pattern;
• established and planned public transport services;
• availability of new transport infrastructure/facilities in the area concerned;
• the financial viability of the proposed route; and
• requests and comments received from the public.

As expressways are mostly cross-district roads connecting new development areas where efficient services by other public transport modes are usually arranged at the planning stage, the Government will not normally allow PLBs to operate on expressways. If there is a practical need and it is appropriate to provide new PLB routes to serve individual expressways, TD will carefully consider and consult the public, and will designate suitable PLB routes for provision of services in the form of green minibuses.

Under the existing policy, the TD may arrange for GMBs to provide services in different parts of the territory and to serve newly opened expressways on a need basis. If, having regard to various factors including passenger demand and other existing public transport services, it is considered appropriate to introduce PLB service to a particular area, TD will arrange for the service to be operated by GMBs. GMB services were available on Tsing Yi and Ma On Shan, which were developed in the early days, and Tseung Kwan O and Kai Tak, which were or are still under development.

Regarding the proposal to introduce green minibus services in Tung Chung, TD will continue to closely monitor the situation, including the development of the districts and population growth, and consider enhancing public transport services as necessary, taking into account the feasibility of introducing GMB services. As a result, TD invited tenders for new routes between HZMB Hong Kong Port and Tung Chung North on 28 July 2017, with the requirement for the operator to install baggage racks inside the vehicle for the convenience of cross-boundary passengers. Eventually, the route was numbered as 901, which means that GMB services are available in all 18 districts in Hong Kong.

Tendering Procedures

Where there is actual demand and it is desirable to introduce new GMB services, the Transport Department (TD) will publish a notice in the Government Gazette and newspapers setting out details of the new GMB routes, issue invitation letters to existing GMB operators and red minibus associations, and organize briefing sessions to brief prospective operators on the relevant details to facilitate their submission of applications.

To ensure service quality, it is the Government's established policy to encourage the conversion of red minibuses to green minibuses. Therefore, since 2002, applicants who are new entrants to the green minibus trade (including those who are operating red minibuses only at the time of application) are allowed to score full marks in the assessment criterion of "whether the applicant is a new entrant to the green minibus trade". Since 2004, this score has been increased from 10% to 15% of the total score to encourage more red minibuses to convert to green minibuses. In order to achieve a full score in this criterion, they may set up a company through friends, relatives or acquaintances in the trade to bid for new routes as new entrants to the GMB industry, and then change the list of directors of the company to bring the new operator under the name of the original GMB group if the bid is successful. The New Territories Route 113 was accused of changing the director of the operator Treasure Up from red minibus operator Lai Ming-hung to Ma Kiu-sang, son of the "king of the minibus" Ma Ah Muk, on the fifth day of service.

All applications received are sent to the Green Minibus Operators Selection Board (專線小巴營辦商遴選委員會), comprising the Transport Department, the Transport Advisory Committee, the Transport and Housing Bureau, and the Home Affairs Department, for discussion, endorsement, and confirmation of selection, with an ICAC officer observing. In the selection process, the Selection Board considers applications on the basis of the applicant's management capability, financial resources and relevant operating experience, the quality of the vehicle to be used, passenger services and facilities, and the proposed fare to be charged.

However, it is a commercial decision as to whether an interested party will actually apply for operating a new GMB route. If no application is received, TD will review and revise the proposal on new GMB routes and arrange to re-invite applications in due course.

Operators

At present, GMBs share the territory's 4,350 light bus quotas with red minibuses, which means that operators are required to purchase or rent the existing fleet of red minibuses whenever a new GMB route is introduced. Due to the high market price of PLB licenses, many of the current GMB operators are subsidiaries (e.g. Ma Ah Muk and its member companies) of PLB dealers, or companies formed by a combination of PLB owners.

In the early years, GMB operators were sole proprietors and Passenger Service Licences were issued to a single licensee, which repeatedly triggered disputes between the licensee and other owners, and even led to strikes affecting service. From around 1986, the Transport Department began to issue passenger service licenses to registered limited companies. At the same time, sole proprietors were encouraged to switch to holding passenger service licenses in the name of a limited company, so that by the end of the millennium almost all GMB routes were operated by limited companies, with the return of individualized new routes only in 2012.

Some operators now have good relationships with the local community, local organizations or rural committees, such as AMS Public Transport's chairman, Mr. Wong Man Kit, who were both members of the Southern District Council for many years. Many minibus drivers employed by rural route operators also live in the service area and thus have good relations with local residents. For green minibus (GMB) routes to and from private roads in private housing estates (e.g. Wonderland Villas), the service arrangements need to be co-ordinated with the Owners' Corporations (OCs) or management companies of the relevant housing estates.

Due to Scoring Methodology in Tendering, existing operators bidding for new routes often set up a new company and operate under a separate Passenger Service License (PSL) after winning the bid. Each light bus can only be registered under one Passenger Service License (PSL) and operate one group of routes, which restricts the deployment of different groups of vehicles under large operators. Starting from August 2021, the Transport Department will allow GMB operators with common shareholders to merge their passenger service licenses to facilitate vehicle redeployment and enhance operational flexibility, thereby benefiting from economies of scale.

Route services

The Passenger Service Licences of GMB routes are issued by the Transport Department according to local needs, normally for a period of three years and up to a maximum of five years. The Passenger Service License sets out the necessary conditions for the operation of PLB services, such as the requirement to submit monthly and annual reports on the operation of the routes concerned on a regular basis, to keep the vehicle clean, to regular maintenance, and to be driven by a driver employed by the licensee, etc. The GMB service licensee may also be authorized by TD to operate a GMB service. GMB routes approved by TD are also issued with permits to pick up and set down passengers at minibus stops in restricted zones, and to enter public light bus closed zones or closed roads, and even restricted zones and bus-only lanes where only buses are allowed.

The operator shall be authorised to operate the GMB service in accordance with the Passenger Service Licence issued under the Road Traffic Ordinance, and shall operate the service in accordance with the routes, timetable, Scale of Fares, vehicle allocation and the prescribed Schedule of Services. Operators are not allowed to modify the services without the approval of the TD and if there is a need to make changes to the existing GMB routes, the TD will consult the relevant government departments, the Police and other public transport operators, as well as District Councillors and other local communities through the District Offices on the proposals. TD will then study the views collected in detail and, if the proposal is supported, follow up with the operators on the implementation details.

The Transport Department conducts service surveys covering all GMB routes every one or two years, and from time to time on individual routes on a need basis. The Transport Department also requires operators to submit annual accounts for the year ending 31 March by the end of June each year, and a Monthly Operating Return Form by the 15th of each month. Operating dataThe Department also meets with operators from time to time to maintain the stability and reliability of PLB services, and assesses from time to time the adequacy of service levels in the light of the latest developments in the districts served by individual routes (e.g. the completion of new facilities and the occupation of new housing estates, etc.). In the light of the monitoring and survey results, the Department and the operators will take measures to meet the demand, including modification and rationalisation of PLB routes, introduction of short-haul or supplementary routes, adjustment of vehicle allocation and revision of service schedules.

Fares

The main article of this section is Scale of Fares.

GMB fares are set according to the Scale of Fares, which sets out the maximum fares that can be charged on GMB routes for different distances. The operator may set fares below the levels set out in the fare scale subject to the approval of the Transport Department, as the fare level is a condition specified in the operating license of the service concerned.

There were a total of about 500 GMB routes in Hong Kong in June 2016, which were divided into 160 route packages for operation to ensure that routes with poor profitability but able to cater for passengers' needs were granted together with other routes and the packages as a whole achieved financial sustainability. Since June 2014, when inviting applications for the introduction of GMB routes, TD has included a clause requiring them to implement the Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities when operating the routes concerned in the future, which ensures that the Scheme will cover the new GMB routes.

The Transport Department (TD) reviews the fare scale annually, taking into account the general economic conditions of Hong Kong, the overall financial position of the GMB trade and public acceptability. The current fare level was determined by TD after careful consideration of all the above relevant factors. Operators may submit fare adjustment applications at any time. The Department will assess these applications carefully on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the following relevant factors:

• the financial position of the service concerned, including operating costs and revenue, etc;
• the financial performance of the operator
• quality of service and service improvement plan;
• availability of similar services in the area and their fares;
• existing GMB fare scale; and
• passenger acceptance level, etc.

Taking into account the acceptability of the fare increase to passengers, the TD will propose the rate of fare increase and then collect views on fare adjustment from various sectors through the District Offices (DOs). The TD will then analyze the views collected and inform the relevant District Council members and the local community of the fare adjustments when the results are available. The whole process takes about two to three years, and is said to be difficult to combat inflation, resulting in diminishing income for PLBs. TD stated that it had revised its internal guidelines in early 2022 to enhance the efficiency of processing fare adjustment applications, so as to facilitate timely fare adjustments by operators and improve the financial position of their route portfolios. 　　

Interchange concessions

The main article of this section is Interchange concession#Interchange with other transport operators.

To further facilitate passengers, MTR has been exploring the feasibility of collaborating with green minibus operators along the railway lines to provide BBI concessions, and any BBI concessions would need to be implemented by other transport operators in collaboration with each other.

On 21 March 2017, MTR Corporation announced that based on the results of the 2017 Fare Adjustment Mechanism review, the number of GMB routes covered by the BBIs would be expanded from the original 61 routes to about 530 routes in Hong Kong, and passengers using Octopus could benefit from a 30¢ discount for each trip when interchanging between MTR and any GMB or vice versa. For routes with existing interchange discounts that exceed 30¢ per trip, the original discounts will be retained. As it takes time for MTR to finalise the details and make changes to the fare system with the GMB operators, it is expected that the new BBIs can be fully implemented within about one year after the announcement (i.e. within about the 2nd quarter of 2018).

After preparation, the new BBI concessions took effect from 3 June 2018 for a period of 5 years until June 2023. It is worth noting that the MTRCL's much publicized 30 cents discount for GMB interchanges is only an overstatement. Between August 2017 and March 2018, the Transport Department received fare adjustment applications from 132 GMB routes, and the rate of increase was so significant that the so-called concession was quickly offset by the rate of increase.

Vehicles

There is no age limit for non-diesel-fueled PLBs, although all PLBs are required to pass an annual vehicle inspection before their licenses can be renewed. Newly registered diesel-fueled PLBs from February 1, 2014 onwards are subject to a 15-year retirement period.

A Toyota Coaster LPG green minibus with the roof painted green and with the number of seats (19) as required by law for identification purposes

The Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 1988 was read the third time and passed by the Legislative Council on 14 December 1988 to relax the maximum number of seats from 14 to 16 on a light bus. After years of review, the government submitted the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017 to the Legislative Council, which was read the third time and passed on 28 June 2017, and immediately gazetted on 7 July, further amending the seating capacity limit for PLBs (including public and private light buses) to 19 with immediate effect. Increasing the number of seats is not mandatory, and minibus operators may decide on their own whether to convert their minibuses to increase the number of seats, taking into account actual operating conditions and passenger demand.

Compartment Facilities

With the exception of intermediate stops permitted on specific road sections, the driver has the final say on the loading and unloading of passengers on green minibuses at non-stopping restricted zone locations along the route, taking into account the safety of the passengers and not violating the traffic ordinances; passengers may also raise their hands to board (hail and ride) at any non-restricted area location, traffic conditions permitting.

Passengers are required to pay the fare immediately upon boarding a green minibus, and those who pay in cash are required to put the fare into the cash box, which is non-refundable and cannot be handed directly to the driver; all green minibus routes now accept Octopus as a form of fare payment. . Before alighting, passengers are required to call out their alighting point or press the alighting bell (if available, and only at fixed stops), which is confirmed by the driver.

LPG and electric light buses

The Government has been encouraging the light bus trade to replace their vehicles with new ones. Since 2002, the Alternative Fuel Light Bus Trial Scheme has been launched to encourage diesel light bus owners to replace their vehicles with LPG or electric light buses.

In July 2010, the Government launched another new incentive scheme. Under the scheme, a one-off grant of $77,000, $88,000 or $92,000 will be provided to light bus owners for replacing their Euro II diesel light buses with diesel, LPG or electric light buses complying with the requirements of Euro IV or the prevailing emission standards respectively. In addition, the Chief Executive stated in the 2013 Policy Address that $10 billion has been earmarked to provide incentives for phasing out pre-Euro and Euro I to III diesel commercial vehicles, including public light buses.

Low-floor GMBs

The main article of this section is Low-floor bus#Low-floor minibus.

The narrow passenger boarding and alighting doors of green minibuses are not designed for barrier-free transportation. Three green minibus operators operating routes passing through hospitals, including AMS Public Transport (Queen Mary Hospital), Chit Fai Motors (St. Teresa's Hospital) and Crown Score Industries (Prince of Wales Hospital), planned to introduce three wheelchair-accessible minibus models at their own expense in the second half of 2017 for testing.

The first low-floor minibus to be introduced to Hong Kong is the British-built Optare Solo SR, which is 7.27 metres in length and has 19 seats with ramp for wheelchair access, but costing $1.5 million, twice as much as the Japanese minibuses that have been in use. As this minibus would exceed the statutory length limit of 7 metres for public light buses (this is effectively a small single-decked bus), the Transport Department will exercise discretion to exemptions the length restriction so that these low-floor minibuses may be introduced on a trial basis in Hong Kong.

The trial of low-floor light buses commenced on 26 January 2018, with one Optare Solo SR serving on Route 54M on Hong Kong Island. The Government would review the operational effectiveness of the vehicle with the operator and, if the scheme is proved to be feasible, further discuss with the light bus trade to promote low-floor light buses. Subsequently, the Transport Department has invited public tenders for new green minibus routes passing through hospitals, and many of them require the applicants to deploy at least one low-floor minibus within a specified period of time after the commencement of the route.

Monitoring of services

To strengthen the monitoring of the driving behavior of PLB drivers and enhance the safety of PLB operation, the Transport Department (TD) conducts inspections on the performance of PLB drivers from time to time. If inappropriate behaviour is detected, such as speeding, overloading, failure to comply with traffic light signal, or driving behaviour endangering passenger safety, TD will, where appropriate, pass the information to the Police for follow-up and enforcement action. Convictions of speeding and red-light jumping will be subject to a fine, incurring of penalty points, and may result in the revocation of the driving licences.

For GMB drivers who have repeatedly been complained by the public about improper driving behaviour, TD will deploy staff to conduct on-site inspections or boarding surveys to verify the situation, interview and seriously remind the operators to warn the drivers concerned, and take appropriate disciplinary actions against the drivers concerned as appropriate. In addition, the TD will remind the operators to step up staff training and conduct surprise driver performance checks to improve service quality.

The TD will regularly evaluate the performance of the operators in providing PLB services, including the overall service quality, financial performance, passenger complaints, the level of provision of passenger facilities, whether the services are provided in accordance with the Schedule of Services of the routes, etc. If the TD receives any complaints from passengers about the services provided by the operators, the TD will review the performance of the GMB operators. If TD receives complaints from passengers about GMB services, TD will refer them to the operators concerned and order them to submit reports, and if the performance of a GMB operator continues to be unsatisfactory, the Department may consider reducing the period of operation of the GMB operator; if it is shown that the licensee has failed to maintain a proper and efficient PLB service in compliance with the conditions of the Passenger Service License, the Commissioner will issue a notice to the licensee, requiring him to make representations in writing, within 21 days of the service of the notice, on the reasons why the licensee's license should not be revoked and, if the reasons are insufficient, the Passenger Service Licence may be revoked.

Discontinuance of green minibus service

If a green minibus route with a low and declining patronage is in poor financial condition, the operator may terminate the entire route authorized under the Passenger Service Licence by giving written notice to the Commissioner for Transport not later than 6 months in advance. The TD will review the operating conditions with the operators and implement various measures as appropriate, including fare adjustments, routing, frequency and vehicle deployment, as well as the introduction of special or ancillary services, with a view to improving the efficiency of these routes; the TD will also examine the existing public transport network in the area, the nature of the services concerned, passenger demand and service continuity, etc., and explore feasible service alternatives. If there is a practical need, TD will publish a notice in the Gazette to invite interested parties to apply for the operation of the GMB services concerned.

Operators are not allowed to unilaterally terminate the operation of individual routes in a package. If a route is abandoned due to changes in local traffic patterns, the TD will first consider adjusting the GMB service such as frequency and routing. Measures such as merging, splitting or deleting route combinations will be considered on a case-by-case basis. If necessary, the Department will submit the case to the GMB Selection Committee for discussion.

Between 2009 and 2011, a total of 12 GMB routes were canceled in Hong Kong. Among them, routes 10A, 10M, 30M and 33 in Kowloon and 43D, 97, 142, 406A and 801S in the New Territories were mainly cancelled. The remaining three routes, including 406A and 801S, were canceled mainly due to cost increases and declining passenger demand. The remaining three routes, including 10A, 10B on Hong Kong Island and 607S in the New Territories, were cancelled due to reorganization or merger with routes in the same group.

In 2013, the Transport Department (TD) received applications for the cancellation of 11 GMB routes and finally approved the cancellation of three of them, including the Kowloon route 63M, as well as Hong Kong Island routes 10X and 11.

Between 2014 and 2016, TD received a total of 16 applications for termination of GMB routes. The operators of three routes decided to terminate their operation after being retained, including Route 611C in the New Territories, Kowloon routes 7 in Kowloon (cancelled due to the commissioning of Kwun Tong Line Extension) and 65. Between 2017 and 2019, the New Territories route 619 and Kowloon route 85 were cancelled. In 2020, the abrupt closure of Chit Fai Motors led to the direct cancellation of the Kowloon routes 6 and 6X.

Passenger Service License holders are required to return their licences to the Commissioner for Transport for cancellation upon termination of minibus service.

Route numbers

GMB routes are divided into three major districts, namely Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories, and each district has its own numbering system, so that the same route number can represent different routes in the three districts. Cross-district or cross-harbour routes are assigned numbers according to the districts in which they are tendered and to avoid the occurrence of routes with the same number in similar districts. In this Code, "Hong Kong Island GMB Route XX", "Kowloon GMB Route XX" and "New Territories GMB Route XX" are used as the names of the relevant routes, while Passenger Service Licenses Certificates are shown with "H", "K" and "N" at the beginning of the numbering, e.g. Hong Kong Island GMB Route 1A will be shown as "H001A".

GMB routes on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon are numbered roughly according to their years of operation, with only a few (e.g. Hong Kong Island route 35) using larger numbers right after the start of operation, or reusing the numbering of a route that has already been discontinued (e.g. Hong Kong Island 26 and Kowloon 26 routes, which are coincidentally being used for the second time in their respective years of operation).

For the New Territories, since the first batch of Tsuen Wan District routes came into service in 1980, the routes have been assigned 10-digit prefixes according to different districts, among which North District and Sai Kung District shared the same numbering scheme of 1 to 19, while the former has changed to use the prefixes with 5 characters since 1988, and the numbering scheme has been increased to 3-digit prefixes to represent districts at the hundredths digit since 1991, as the numbering scheme for 1 to 99 has been nearly used up.

The areas currently represented by the prefixes of the New Territories route numbers are as follows:

Category of New Territories GMB route numberings
Route numbering area	Area	Remarks
1-19 101-115	Sai Kung District	Originally shared with North District, but changed to Sai Kung District in 1988 except for 5K; after 5K ceased operation in 1990, this series is officially used exclusively by Sai Kung District.
20-29	Tai Po District	Route 27 only serves Science Park in Sha Tin District, while the 27A and 27B routes of the same series serve Pak Shek Kok in Tai Po District.
31-39 71-79 601-623	Yuen Long District
80-99	Tsuen Wan District, Kwai Tsing District
301-313	Tsuen Wan District	Route 309M (cancelled) split from Route 308M only served Kwai Tsing District.
40-49 140-142	Tuen Mun District	Route 46M and 47M routes are used by the Kwai Tsing District and are numbered according to the corresponding KMB routes in the original plan; however, the same numbered portions of the 46, 46A, 46X and 47S routes belong to the Tuen Mun District, and they are operated by different operators.
401-413	Kwai Tsing District	Routes to/from Tsuen Wan/Kwai Tsing and Sha Tin districts all pass through Shing Mun Tunnel.
481-483	Between Tsuen Wan District and Sha Tin District
50-59 501-505	North District
60-69 801-814	Sha Tin District
901	Islands District

Note: Routes are not yet available for the 2XX and 7XX series.

The following table shows the meanings of the letters of the route numbers, which are also applicable to Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Territories routes, but there are many exceptions, so it is for reference only.

Letter prefixes for GMB routes
First Letter	Meanings	Remarks
N	Overnight routes	This prefix is only used for some overnight routes on Hong Kong Island and in the New Territories.
T	Temporary routes	Only New Territories GMB Route T20R has been used.

Letter suffixes for GMB routes
Last letter	meaning	Remarks
A to G	Branch of original route	No special meanings, after years of route development, routes with endings may be completely different from the original routes without endings.
H	Hospital Route	Currently, only Kowloon GMB Route 26H is used.
K	Routes connecting to the former Kowloon Canton Railway
M	Routes connecting to pre-merger MTR or Tuen Ma Line	Except New Territories Green Minibus Route 20M, which does not connect to any railway station, and New Territories 65M and 72M routes, which connect to Tuen Ma Line stations, the rest of the routes connect to stations of the pre-merger MTR lines.
P	Peak hour service routes	There are exceptions.
R	Recreation routes	Mostly on holidays (with some exceptions).
S	Special routes	Includes peak hour service routes, holiday routes, etc. (but there are exceptions).
	Overnight routes	are mainly used for routes in Kowloon and the New Territories, but not all Kowloon/New Territories overnight routes use the S suffix, e.g. New Territories GMB Route 482 is an overnight route but does not have the S suffix, and New Territories GMB Route 86A is an overnight route but uses the A suffix.
T	Temple routes	Currently only New Territories GMB Route 20T is used.
W	Branch of original route	Meaning unknown, currently only used by Kowloon 26W and 79W routes.
X	Express routes
Y	Routes split from "X" routes unilaterally	Since Kowloon GMB Route 6Y ceased operation in April 2020, there are currently no routes in use.

Generally speaking, routes with the same number of digits in the same region are considered as feeder routes, auxiliary routes or routes under the same batch of tenders, and are operated by a single operator. However, if there is a transfer of operating rights in the process, there may be cases where routes with the same number of digits are operated by different operators, such as routes of the New Territories (NT) routes 90M/90P, 88/88A, 90P, 88, 88/88A NTGMB/88A.

Serious incidents

• 2009 Mong Kok minibus accident
• 2009 Yuen Long Highway minibus accident
• 2010 Sha Tin minibus accident
• 2010 Ma On Shan minibus accident
• 2015 Kam Tin minibus accident

Other

• 14 May 2018: The Millionaire 2018 $2,000 question asked in what year the first green minibus came into service.

Related Articles

• Public light bus
• List of green minibus operators
• List of green minibus routes

External Links

• Gazettal of Passenger Transportation by Public Light Bus (GMB) Route Groups in August 2018 Question and Answer (Q&A) Session on Business License Application Briefing, 29 August 2018
• Gazettal of various public light bus (green minibus) route groupings for passenger service in July 2017 Briefing on Operating License Applications: Introduction and Q&A Minutes, 2 August 2017
• 容溟舟先生的提問 (Question raised by Mr. YUNG Ming-chau), Sha Tin District Council Traffic and Transport Committee Paper TT 55/2013 (Revised)
• Public Housing Estates with Green Minibus Services, Labour and Welfare Bureau, 23 October 2013

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To facilitate quoting and enquiries, the following redirect page(s) will direct to this page:

Green Minibus, Public Light Bus (Scheduled) Services, Maxicab, Green maxicab, Green Maxicab, Green Van and GMB