【明報專訊】BUS COMPANIES have been given the green light from the Chief Executive in Council to increase fares starting from early next month. Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) will raise fares by 4.3% and Citybus's fare hike will even reach 7.5%, much higher than the inflation rate.

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Coming hard on the heels of the last fare increase just over a year ago, with KMB and Citybus up by 3.9% and 4.9% respectively in June last year, the increase this time is even steeper. It is necessary for the government to instruct the bus companies to increase their financial transparency and formulate a strategy to diversify and increase revenue, rather than frequently imposing substantial fare hikes on ordinary citizens to fill financial holes.

[audio 2]

In response to the fare increase applications KMB, Citybus and New Lantao Bus (NLB) submitted earlier, the government has repeatedly stressed that it would exercise its gatekeeping role in a scrupulous manner. However, the fare increases decided in the end are still way above the inflation rate of 2.76% over the past year and a half. The government is satisfied that fare adjustments are necessary to help the three bus companies maintain stable finances for sustaining investments in bus operations. But from the perspective of ordinary citizens, it is really difficult to accept dramatic increases in bus fares twice in just a year and a half.

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According to the paper the authorities provided earlier to the Legislative Council (Legco), the patronage of KMB has recovered to about 95% of the pre-pandemic level; that of Citybus has also recovered to nearly 90%. The number of average daily passenger journeys with KMB and NLB went up by 14.6% and 38.5% respectively last year; that of Citybus also increased by 19.5%. Moreover, the international oil prices have so far been generally flat this year and even lower than two years earlier.

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Take a look at the financial situation of the bus companies and one will see that both KMB and NLB came out of the red last year. KMB turned from a loss of $41.2 million in 2022 to a profit of $20.2 million last year. In the first half of this year, it also made a profit of $21.9 million, showing a continuous improvement in profitability. The 4.3% increase in KMB fares will generate $290 million more in revenue from bus operations alone. That inevitably invites doubts about whether KMB's coming fare hike is reasonable.

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While it will raise fares by the highest rate, Citybus's service performance renders the company the least deserving of a fare increase. In the last year and the first half of this year, both Citybus's accident rates and lost trip rates are higher than the industry average.

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Ironically, at a Legco meeting, a Citybus representative attributed the problem to manpower shortages and uncompetitive wages. The underlying message was that a fare increase would enable the company to improve remunerations and strengthen training, thus helping it to reduce lost trips and accidents. The logic behind was essentially ''the worse the service, the more reasonable fare hikes are''.

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Last year, in contrast to KMB and NLB, which returned to the black, Citybus alone saw an expansion of deficits again. A number of lawmakers have pointed out that the parent company of Citybus had paid dividends for two years in a row, which totalled $200 million. They have questioned whether the company has employed financial shenanigans to transfer the profits in the form of consultancy fees, bonuses and so forth, thereby creating an illusion of running a deficit.

[audio 8]

The government paper has only listed the profits or losses of the three bus companies in the past three financial years, without providing a clear breakdown of their operation costs or a detailed estimation of their future costs, revenues and returns. Even the costs of buying new buses are missing. As the bus companies ask for hefty fare hikes without sufficient transparency in their finances, lawmakers and the public can only regret the impossibility of monitoring.

[audio 9]

明報社評 2024.12.18：巴士加價理據不清 被迫「填氹」市民無奈

行政長官會同行政會議批准巴士公司加價，下月初實施，其中九巴加價4.3%，城巴加幅更達7.5%，遠高於通脹。

九巴城巴去年6月才分別加價3.9%至4.9%，事隔一年多後又再加價，加幅尤甚於去年。政府有必要責成巴士公司提高帳目透明度，以及制訂更多元化的開源策略，而不是密密大幅加價要市民幫手「填氹」。

九巴、城巴及新大嶼山巴士早前提出加價申請，政府一再強調會以仔細嚴謹態度把關，惟最終得出的加幅，仍比過去一年半2.76%通脹率高出一大截。政府信納3間巴士公司有需要調整票價，維持更穩健的財務狀况，以持續投資於巴士服務，但從市民的角度，巴士公司短短一年半間兩度大幅加價，確實很難接受。

根據當局早前向立法會提交的文件，九巴的巴士客量已回復到疫前九成半，城巴也接近九成。九巴及嶼巴去年日均客量，分別上升了14.6%及38.5%；城巴去年客量亦升約19.5%。國際油價方面，今年以來也大致平穩，甚至比早兩年有所下降。

再看巴士公司財政狀况。去年九巴嶼巴均轉虧為盈。九巴由前年蝕4120萬元，轉為去年賺2020萬元，今年上半年賺了2190萬元，反映盈利狀况持續改善。九巴加價4.3%，單計車務收入便會多了近2.9億元進帳，市民難免質疑九巴這次加價是否合理。

今次巴士加價，城巴加幅最大，然而論服務表現，卻是最不值得加價的一家。城巴去年及今年上半年意外率及脫班率，皆高於行業平均。

然而諷刺的是，立法會會議上，城巴代表將問題扯上人手不足以及工資不夠競爭力，言下之意是巴士加價了，公司有錢提高薪酬待遇及加強訓練，就可減少脫班及意外，背後邏輯相當於「服務愈差加價愈有理」。

去年九巴嶼巴都轉虧為盈，唯獨城巴虧損重新擴大。多名議員都提到，城巴母公司連續兩年派息合計2億元，質疑公司方面利用各種財技，諸如顧問費、花紅等，將利潤轉移，製造虧損假象。

政府文件只列出過去3個年度巴士公司財政盈虧狀况，並無臚列營運成本細項，亦無詳細交代有關未來成本、收益及回報的預測，就連購置新巴士的成本也欠奉。巴士公司帳目透明度不足，卻提出大幅加價，議員和公眾都有無從監察之嘆。

■/ Glossary 生字 /

scrupulous：careful about paying attention to every detail

out of the red：in credit, making a profit

shenanigans：secret or dishonest activities, usually of a complicated type

[audio 10]

Audio files provided by John W