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Kowloon Motor Bus
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- "KMB" redirects here. For the record label, see KMB Jazz.
The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB; ), a company of the Transport International Holdings Limited, is the largest franchised bus operators in Hong Kong, and one of the largest privately owned public bus operators in the world. For its franchised service in Hong Kong, KMB operates a fleet consisting of about 4,300 buses on 420 routes and employs a staff of over 13,000.
was founded on 13 April 1933 as a result of the reformation of public transport by the then-British colonial government of Hong Kong.
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Encyclopedia
- "KMB" redirects here. For the record label, see KMB Jazz.
The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB; ), a company of the Transport International Holdings Limited, is the largest franchised bus operators in Hong Kong, and one of the largest privately owned public bus operators in the world. For its franchised service in Hong Kong, KMB operates a fleet consisting of about 4,300 buses on 420 routes and employs a staff of over 13,000.
History
KMB was founded on 13 April 1933 as a result of the reformation of public transport by the then-British colonial government of Hong Kong. Before the reformation, there were several independent bus operators working on both sides of the Victoria Harbour.
The KMB franchise allowed for the operation of public omnibus service on the Kowloon side, as well as the New Territories. By 11 June 1933, KMB had a fleet of 106 single deck buses.
The founding members of KMB were:
- Sir Tang Shiu-kin
- William Louey Sui Tak
- Ng See Cherng
- Choy Wai Hung
- Lui Leung
- Tam Woon Tong
- Lam Ming Fan
By 1940, KMB had 140 single-deckers operating on 17 routes. After World War II, only a handful of buses survived, and therefore some lorries were converted into buses.
By the late 1940s, KMB ridership increased with the huge influx of immigration after the war. In 1949, KMB bought 20 Daimler double-deckers from England, becoming the first operator to operate double-deckers in Hong Kong.
Following the opening of the Cross Harbour Tunnel in 1972, a number of cross harbour routes was jointly operated by KMB with China Motor Bus, the sole bus operator on Hong Kong Island. With the tunnels, KMB service expanded from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. At the same time, KMB experimented with buses operating without fare collector (also referred to as One Man Operated).
In 1975, the first air-conditioned bus in Hong Kong was put into service by KMB. Following the testing of the double-decked air-conditioned bus in early 1980s (Victory and Jubilant), KMB became the world's first air-conditioned double-decker operator. Today 90 per cent of KMB bus fleet is air-conditioned.
In 1996, KMB formed a subsidiary named Long Win Bus Company on Lantau Link with service to the new Hong Kong International Airport and Tung Chung.
Starting from 1998, KMB extended her network into mainland China when a co-operative joint venture - Dalian Hong Kong Macau Company Limited, started its operation.
In 1999, KMB started to operate some of the KCR Feeder Bus (now MTR Feeder Bus) routes, which are complimentary free services of the (previously KCR East Rail).
Innovations
KMB is the first franchised bus company in Hong Kong that achieved the following:
- Air-conditioning franchised bus service (early 1975)
- First super-low-floor (SLF) double deckers in the world (1997)
- ISO 'Quality Systems' throughout its entire organisation (1999)
- ISO 9001:2000 certification (2001)
Fare
A passenger pays fare by either cash (no change given) or an Octopus card, a smart card fare collection system used in Hong Kong. Discounts apply for Octopus users on specified interchange combinations. Generally, the bus fare decreases as the passenger boards the bus at stops closer to the end of the route.
Response to the railway merger
In response to the railway merger of Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) and Mass Transit Railway (MTR), KMB has "coincidentally" (on the same day as the merger) launched a major interchange fare reduction scheme. Operations Director Tim Ip has denied that KMB has been thinking of strategies to counter the fare reduction of the railway merger. Many people think it is obvious (since the 9 percent fare hike) that they're trying to find an effective way to grab passengers back.
Fleet
In 2005, Kowloon Motor Bus has a fleet of over 4,300 buses with over 95% of the fleet being double-deckers and of that, around 90% of the double-deck fleet is air-conditioned. More than 3,460 buses, including those running on busy corridors, are equipped with environment-friendly Euro engines.
The KMB Fleet is allocated and spread across four major depots across Kowloon and the New Territories and is identified by letter (either K, L, S or U). These letters are placed on the bottom left of the driver's windscreen, although some of the buses in the fleet still have the letter placed under the windscreen.
Facilities
KMB buses are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. Newer buses, like the Enviro500, have coloured CCTV cameras installed whereas older buses use a mirror. Bus stop announcement systems installed in every bus informs passengers of the next stop. Samsung LCD TVs with programs are also available on most air-conditioned buses. These programs are provided by RoadShow.
Routes
KMB routes are mainly concentrated on Kowloon and in the New Territories, and these routes are served solely by KMB. It also operates cross-harbour tunnel routes in cooperation with two other Hong Kong bus operators, New World First Bus and Citybus.
KMB currently operates over 400 routes in Hong Kong. See list of bus routes in Hong Kong for details.
Route numbering system
Route numbers consist of a number, optionally preceded by or followed by a letter. If the number has one or two digits, the following numbering scheme is observed:
If the number has three digits, the first digit signifies the service, and the remaining two digits follow the above numbering scheme except as indicated:
| Prefix | Service | Exceptions to numbering scheme | | 1 (1xx) | Cross-harbour routes via the Cross-Harbour Tunnel. All 100s series routes are written in white on red. | Routes 170 and 171: the digit 7 follows the numbering scheme on the Hong Kong Island for service to the Wah Fu area. | | 2 (2xx) | Routes using air-conditioned buses only | | | 3 (3xx) | Special cross-harbour tunnel routes, service during morning and/or evening rush hours only | 307 does not follow numbering scheme | | 6 (6xx) | Cross-harbour routes via the Eastern Harbour Crossing. | Routes 641, 671 do not follow the scheme | | 8 (8xx) | Routes serving the Sha Tin Racecourse on horse racing days. | | | 9 (9xx) | Cross-harbour routes via the Western Harbour Crossing. | | |
On buses with printed plaques and at bus stops, routes are displayed in white on black, with the exception of 1xx and 6xx routes that are in white on red, and 9xx in white on green. On buses with dot-matrix displays, the dots are always in yellow and thus the route number and destination are displayed in yellow on brown/black.
The trailing letter carries additional information about the route:
| Letter | Meaning | | A through F | Sometimes they designate parallel routes with different destinations, like 1 vs 1A and 6 vs 6A, but more often they are unique identifiers, like 2, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E -- there is hardly any overlap in these routes | | K | Route with a KCR (now MTR East Rail Line and West Rail Line) station as the destination | | M | Routes with an MTR station as the destination | | P, R, S | Routes that have limited hours or days of service | | X | Express routes | |
The leading letter N indicates that the route is an overnight route.
Route numbers 1-99 and 2xx used by KMB can also be used by Citybus or New World First Bus for routes on the Hong Kong Island, or by the New Lantau Bus on the Lantau Island. The rest of the routes are unique within Hong Kong.
KMB has no 5xx (Hong Kong Island, special service), 7xx (Express bus using the Island Corridor), or Axx or Exx (service to the airport). KMB does not use Mxx to designate buses serving an Airport Express station.
Football team
Kowloon Motor Bus also had a defunct Hong Kong football club Kowloon Motor Bus Co.. It was formed in 1947 and joined Hong Kong First Division League in 1947-48 season. Nicknamed "Atomic Bus", the team obtained the only two league titles in 1953-54 and 1966-67. The team attained its peak in the 1950s and 1960s when the "South China - Kowloon Motor Bus Co. crash" was one of the highlighted rival matches in Hong Kong. In 1970-71, the team faced their first relegation, but was able to stay in the First Division as Jardines quit the league in the following season. However, the team still got relegated 2 years later in 1972-73. It made its last First Division League appearance in 1976-77 when they relegated immediately after being newly promoted. In 1981, the football team quit the league.
Competitors
See also
Inline
General
External links
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