Min Kee Motors Company Limited (棉記汽車有限公司) is a green minibus (GMB) operator with Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing districts as its main catchment areas. It currently operates 24 GMB routes, including two overnight routes, making it the third largest GMB operator in Hong Kong in terms of the number of routes (after Ma Ah Muk and AMS Public Transport).
Min Kee directly operates 4 routes, and has several sub-companies operating different GMB routes:
- Smart Champion Investments Limited (冠逸投資有限公司) operates GMB routes 69 and 69A, running between Laguna City and Kowloon City and Prince Edward Station respectively;
- KC Investments Limited (君翔投資有限公司) once operated GMB route 412 running between Kwai Chung Estate and North Kwai Chung；
- 94 Licensed Mini-Bus Management Company Limited (94專綫小巴管理有限公司) operates 3 GMB routes 94, 94A and 94S running between Kwai Shing Estate, North Kwai Chung and Lei Muk Shue;
- Foo Woo Public Light Bus Limited (富和小巴有限公司) operates 4 GMB routes 71, 71A, 72 and 72M in Yuen Long District;
- Crown Step Investment Limited (冠升投資有限公司) operates GMB route 84 in Allway Gardens;
- Eternal Honest Limited (誠時有限公司) operates three Kwun Tong intra-district routes running to and from the Anderson Road Development Area;
- Easy Well Industrial Limited (順威實業有限公司) operates 7 GMB routes in Sha Tin District.
Besides, Min Kee also participates in the deployment of minibus on New territories GMB routes 26 and 26A operated by Wyman Development.
Minibuses under Min Kee Motors often have the following characteristics:
- Beige-coloured non-original Hong Kong-made crash bars (commonly known as "local-made pumps") are fitted to the front of all vehicles.
- Route number plates are usually in the form of a front-box route plate cloth showing only the origin and destination (except for electric plates, which have been updated to include route numbers in some subsidiaries)
- Route number plates are usually placed separately at the front of the vehicle, to the left of the passenger door and at the rear of the vehicle
- Fare plates are usually placed at the front of the vehicle, to the left of the passenger door.
History[]
Min Kee Motors is a garage located at G/F A, Oxford Industrial Building, 42-46 Wang Lung Street, Tsuen Wan. [1]
Min Kee Motors started operating green minibus routes 401 and 402S on 4 November 1991, running between Tsing Yi Ferry Pier and North Kwai Chung Market, and overnight between Cheung Hang and Tsuen Wan (Chung On Street) respectively.
In 1999, Min Kee Motors expanded its business to operate two routes from Tsing Yi Station to and from Sea Crest Villa (308M) and the Lantau Link Visitors' Centre (309M), and although the latter was merged with the former in 2002, the following year it started to operate Route 308A from Bellagio to Tsing Yi Station, and continues to operate four routes.
Min Kee Motors has seven subsidiaries operating green minibus services, including Smart Champion Investments, which operates Kowloon GMB Route 69 and started providing GMB services between Laguna City and Kowloon City in April 1997, and KC Investments, which operates New Territories GMB Route 412 between Kwai Chung Estate and North Kwai Chung, which commenced operation in August 2007 and ceased operation in February 2022. In August 1986, Foo Wo Public Light Bus introduced two "70" series New Territories GMB routes, namely "71" and "72", which operate from Yuen Long Tai Hang Street in Yuen Long Town, with Ho Pui Tsuen and Lui Kung Tin Tsuen as their termini. Both routes have the advantage of penetrating deeper into the villages and have been split into short-haul routes 71A and 72M to meet the demand for feeder routes to the Tuen Ma Line.
In late 2012, Min Kee acquired 94 Licensed Mini-Bus Management Company Limited, which operates three GMB routes to Kwai Shing Estate, North Kwai Chung and Lei Muk Shue. The company's oldest route, Route 94, came into operation in May 1983 and was the first GMB route between Kwai Shing Estate, North Kwai Chung and Lei Muk Shue. In April 1987, the operator of Route 94 introduced holiday GMB route 94S from Shing Mun Reservoir to Tsuen Wan Ferry Pier (now Tsuen Wan West Station), replacing KMB Route 32R, and in 1991, Route 94A, a supplementary service to Route 94, was also introduced. Before its acquisition by Min Kee, the company was named after the routes it operated and the name has been used ever since. Its stop information is rudimentary, with only handwritten information on routes observed and hotlines were only shown in the official GMB route information in 2010.
On 24 August 2013, a new route 69A between Laguna City and Prince Edward Road West was split from Kowloon Route 69 to fill a service gap along Laguna City and Prince Edward Road West in response to the diversion of KMB Route 40 to Lung Cheung Road[3] , and the hotline number on the on-board notices of the two routes was changed to 9201 1398, which is the same as the hotline of its subsidiary, 94 Licensed Mini-Bus Management Company Limited. In 2015, the hotline number on the on-vehicle notices of New Territories routes 308A, 308M, 401 and 402S was also changed to the above number.
Subsequently, Min Kee further expanded its business by spinning off different subsidiaries. In 2014, Min Kee invested in New Territories green minibus route 84 between Allway Gardens and Tsuen Wan (Chung On Street) in the name of Crown Score Investments, which was established after the cancellation of the Allway Gardens private minibus shuttle service, following a campaign by the residents and the District Council; and in 2016, two new minibus routes 89A and 89B (and later 89C) were launched in the name of Eternal Honest Limited for the Anderson Road Development Area. In 2017, the operating rights of Yuen Kay Ming Hung Kei Maxicab, which operated routes in the Sha Tin District, was revoked by the Transport Department due to malfunctioning, and its six GMB routes were re-tendered to Easy Well Industrial Limited, a subsidiary of Min Kee, expanding its service scope to Sha Tin. However, each operator in this section has been using its own hotline.
Routes[]
Min Kee Motors[]
| Routes operated by Min Kee Motors | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Passenger Service Licence (PSL) no. | Route no. | Termini | Remarks |
| 9279C | 308A | Bellagio ↔ Tsing Yi Station ● | Daily early morning bidirectional service |
| 308M | Tsing Yi Station ↔ Sham Tseng (Sea Crest Villa) ● | Daily service, with special trips additionally detouring via Lantau Link Visitors' Centre | |
| 8814C | 401 | Tsing Yi Ferry Pier ↔ Shek Yam ● | Daily service |
| 402S | Cheung Hang ↔ Tsuen Wan (Chung On Street) ● | Daily overnight service | |
| Routes once operated by Min Kee Motors | ||
|---|---|---|
| Route no. | Termini | Remarks |
| 309M | Tsing Yi AR Station ↔ Lantau Link Visitors' Centre | Cancelled and merged into Route 308M on 1 July 2002 |
| 408 | Highland Park ↺ Sham Shui Po (Kiu Kiang Street) | Cancelled on 1 January 2001 |
Smart Champion Investments[]
The PSL number of Smart Champion Investments is 12108C.
| Routes operated by Smart Champion Investments | ||
|---|---|---|
| Route no. | Termini | Remarks |
| 69 | Laguna City ↔ Kowloon City (Lion Rock Road) ● | Daily service |
| 69A | Laguna City ↔ Mong Kok Police Station ● | Daily service |
KC Investments[]
The PSL number of KC Investments is 13365C。
| Routes once operated by KC Investments | ||
|---|---|---|
| Route no. | Termini | Remarks |
| 412 | Cancelled on 1 February 2022 | |
94 Licensed Mini-Bus Management Company Limited[]
The PSL number of 94 Licensed Mini-Bus Management Company Limited is 11504C.
| Routes operated by 94 Licensed Mini-Bus Management Company Limited | ||
|---|---|---|
| Route no. | Termini | Remarks |
| 94 | Daily service | |
| 94A | Daily daytime service | |
| Service only during Monday to Friday morning hours | ||
| 94S | Holiday daytime service | |
Foo Wo Public Light Bus[]
The PSL number of Foo Wo Public Light Bus is 12403C. Initially Foo Wo has its independent hotline number 2477 1100, which was later changed to the number used by Min Kee, 9201 1398.
| Routes operated by Foo Wo Public Light Bus | ||
|---|---|---|
| Route no. | Termini | Remarks |
| 71 | Yuen Long (Yuen Long Tai Hang Street) ↔ Ho Pui Tsuen ● | Daily service |
| 71A | Kam Sheung Road Station ↔ Cheung Po Tsuen ● | Daily service |
| 72 | Yuen Long (Yuen Long Tai Hang Street) ↔ Lui Kung Tin ● | Daily service |
| 72M | Kam Sheung Road Station ↔ Lui Kung Tin ● | Weekday peak hour service only |
Crown Score Investments[]
- The main article of this section is Crown Score Investments.
The PSL number of Crown Score Investments is 19268C, and its independent hotline number is 9666 6765.
| Routes operated by Crown Score Investments | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Route no. | Termini | Remarks | |
| 84 | Daily service | ||
Easy Well Industrial[]
- The main article of this section is Easy Well Industrial.
The PSL number of Easy Well Industrial is 16541C, and its independent hotline number is 6879 0928.
| Routes operated by Easy Well Industrial | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Route no. | Termini | Remarks | |
| 65A | Wong Nai Tau ↔ Shatin Town Hall ● | Daytime route | |
| 65K | Wong Nai Tau ↔ Fo Tan Station ● | Daytime route | |
| 65M | Wong Nai Tau ↔ Shek Mun Station ● | Daytime route | |
| 65S | Wong Nai Tau ↔ Mong Kok (Bute Street) ● | Overnight route | |
| 66K | Sha Tin Station ↔ Kau To Shan ● | Daytime route | |
| 67A | Sha Tin Station ↔ Shek Mun Estate ● | Daytime route | |
| 67K | Sha Tin Station ↔ A Kung Kok ● | Daytime route | |
Eternal Honest[]
- The main article of this section is Eternal Honest.
The PSL number of Eternal Honest is 12927C, and its independent hotline number is 6280 9613.
| Routes operated by Eternal Honest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Route no. | Termini | Remarks | |
| 89A | Daily service | ||
| 89B | Daily service | ||
| 89C | Daily service | ||
Gallery[]
.JPG "LD7113 401(2).JPG (1.34 MB)")
.JPG "LD6084 (2).JPG (3.49 MB)")
![Thin trough iron homemade bumps are the great distinction of the vehicles used on routes under Min Kee and applies to all its subsidiaries; some minibus companies (e.g. Wai Ching Industrial, Wyman Development and Ho King Hoo[2]) also used homemade bumps akin to Min Kee](/wiki/File:WP9187@806A,WM3087@806B.jpg "WP9187@806A,WM3087@806B.jpg (623 KB)")
Related articles[]
- Crown Score Investments
- Eternal Honest
- Easy Well Industrial
- Wyman Development
- Wai Ching Industrial
Notes and References[]
- ↑ Min Kee Motors Company Limited
- ↑ Most of the 7th generation Toyota Coaster LPG minibuses of the three companies use Min Kee's homemade bumps.
External links[]
Min Kee, Smart Champion, Smart Champion Investmets, KC Investments, 94 Licensed Mini-Bus, 94 Licensed Mini-Bus Management Company Limited, Foo Wo, Foo Wo Public Light Bus and Foo Woo Public Light Bus Limited