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Schedule of Routes Order

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A Schedule of Routes Order (路線表令) is an order made by the Chief Executive in Council under section 5(1) of the Public Bus Services Ordinance (PBSO) (Cap. 230) to grant to a franchised bus company the right to operate a "specified route" (指明路線), which forms part of the franchised bus networks (專營巴士路線網絡) of each franchised bus company.

In general, the Government updates the Schedule of Routes Order every one to two years. If a route is listed in the Order but not serviced by the bus company, it is regarded as "service-less"; on the other hand, if the bus company sends buses to serve a route not listed in the Order, it can be regarded as "unlisted".

Overview[]

A Schedule of Routes Order of a franchised bus company sets out in detail all bus routes operated by the operator and the routes of special trips, and does not contain any other operational and service-related instructions. Matters relating to the actual service level of individual routes, such as their timetable, frequency and bus deployment, are set out in the administrative "Schedule of Services" drawn up for individual routes.

If other operational and service-related instructions are included in the schedules, the operation of franchised bus services will be shifted from a network as a whole to individual routes, thereby providing an incentive for individual bus companies to focus their resources on routes with higher profit margins, thus rendering loss-making routes more susceptible to lost trips. Under such circumstances, if the bus company does not put up a defence, the Chief Executive in Council will revoke the route concerned in accordance with the relevant ordinance.

In the event of such a scenario, although the Administration will re-tender the cancelled routes, it will take time to do so and it is not possible to predict whether there will in fact be another operator who is willing to operate these fragmented and uneconomical routes. Even if a new operator can be identified, the fragmented routes will make it difficult for the operator to make comprehensive and long-term investment and development, and it will also be difficult to achieve economies of scale in terms of vehicle deployment, maintenance workshops and manpower deployment. This will ultimately affect the quality of service and fares, to the detriment of passengers.

In the context of Hong Kong as a whole, the route network of franchised bus companies will become fragmented and piecemeal, thus reducing synergy. This will not only have an impact on the overall quality and stability of bus services, but will also affect the livelihood of bus company staff. This will run counter to the objective of the Legislative Council and the Government to ensure the provision of proper, efficient, reliable and affordable public bus services by the operators to the public, and the ultimate victims will be the commuters who have to rely on public bus services on a daily basis.

It is entirely right and proper for Members of the Legislative Council to express concern about the figures and variances recorded in respect of the number of trips not in accordance with the number of scheduled trips on certain bus routes and to draw the attention of the Commissioner for Transport to the situation. The Commissioner may, in consultation with the franchisee concerned, give formal directions on such matters to ensure that the operator provides a proper and efficient public bus service. The Chief Executive in Council has the power to impose financial penalties if the operator concerned fails to comply with the directions.

Route change procedures[]

Franchised bus companies occasionally make service changes and adjust bus route networks in accordance with Transport Department requirements. The reasons for this include:

  • Responding to changes in passenger demand for transport services;
  • Responding to regional population changes, such as population growth resulting from new residential development projects;
  • Responding to traffic arrangements required due to various works;
  • Improving coordination between various public transport modes to reduce wasteful duplication of services; and
  • Improving the operational efficiency of franchised bus services.

In this regard, bus companies are required to submit an annual Bus Route Planning Programme to the Transport Department, which includes proposals for introducing new routes, improving service frequencies, or extending operating hours, as well as plans to cancel or merge routes, reduce service frequencies, or shorten routes. Prior to implementing service changes, the Department must consult the relevant District Council on major changes. If District Council members raise objections to specific details or suggest further adjustments to such changes, as well as propose improvements to bus services, the Transport Department will adopt some of these suggestions where feasible and explain to the District Council the reasons for not adopting others.

To facilitate operations, route changes accepted by the District Council will be temporarily implemented in accordance with Section 15 of the Ordinance. Under this provision, the Transport Department may, after consulting the bus company, require the bus company to temporarily operate new routes or modify existing routes, with such requirements valid for a maximum period of 24 months. If the modified route needs to be maintained beyond the 24-month period, it must be included in the Route Schedule Order issued by the Chief Executive in Council under Section 5(1) of the Ordinance before the expiration of the 24-month period[1]; otherwise, the new or modified routes operated by the bus company will legally become illegally-operated routes after the 24-month validity period of the Schedule of Routes Order expires.

In accordance with the Government's established practice, after the Chief Executive in Council issues the Route Schedule Order, it is immediately submitted to the Legislative Council for the "negative vetting" procedure under the "Public Bus Franchisees' Schedule of Routes Orders" (公共專營巴士公司路線表令).[2] Prior to modifying routes and initiating the relevant legislative procedures, the Transport Department has considered the government's policy objective of using railways as the backbone of public transport services, utilising franchised buses to provide services to areas not directly accessible by rail, and offering connections to railway networks and cross-district services. In appropriate circumstances, bus services may be reorganised to enhance network efficiency, improve service quality, alleviate traffic congestion, reduce fare increase pressure, and decrease roadside air pollution, while ensuring that services appropriately meet passenger needs.

List of Schedule of Routes Orders[]

HKSAR era[]

British Hong Kong era[]

Related articles[]

  • Franchised bus
  • Schedule of Services
  • Scale of Fares
  • Bus route
  • Bus Route Planning Programme
  • Area Approach rationalisation for bus routes

Notes and references[]

  1. ↑ Legal Service Division Report on Subsidiary Legislation Gazetted on 3 July 2009, Legislative Council Paper No. LS102/08-09.
  2. ↑ What is Subsidiary Legislation, Legislative Council in Brief No.6.
  3. ↑ Effective 20 October 2023. This Order is published as the Schedule of Routes Order has become obsolete with the end of NWFB's franchise.

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