Citybus gets the hang of long and short trips

Ayra Wang

Citybus is set to introduce 11 section fare validators at bus stops in Southern and Central & Western districts.

These validators will allow passengers who only want to take a bus for only part of the way to only pay a fraction of the fares they would normally be charged when they board buses that service longer routes.

The validators, decked out in Citybus yellow livery, will be installed at designated intermediate stops along routes 4 and 971.

In Southern, eight validators will be installed, while three will be placed in the Central & Western.

They will display eligible routes for fare discounts and support various payment methods, including Octopus, Visa, Apple Pay, Google Pay, AlipayHK and WeChat Pay HK.

To get the discounts, passengers simply need to tap cards or scan QR codes at the validators after alighting from buses.

Citybus commercial director Newton Ng Yee-kwan said the validators will help alleviate congestion issues.

He also said the validators can be installed at remote bus stops as they are battery-powered and only need charging once a week.

Citybus plans to expand the use of the validators to Eastern and Tseung Kwan O districts, as well as enhance their functions. The development is in line with its plan to streamline its route systems by consolidating existing short bus routes into 14 new trunk lines that will cover major roads.

The merger with New World First Bus last year, he said, resulted in overlapping bus routes, and the amalgamation aims to optimize bus resources, reduce operational costs and waiting times by adding more buses to the routes.

As part of this consolidation, Citybus will cancel routes 48, 71 and 71P, merging them with route 4. Route 43M will be merged with route 971. The headways for the new route 4 will be reduced to eight to 12 minutes, a significant improvement compared to the current 20-minute waiting time.

Also Citybus plans to adopt a more straightforward naming approach for the new trunk lines. "For example, the newly consolidated route 4 will be named the Pok Fu Lam line, as it will serve most bus stops along Pok Fu Lam Road," Ng said, adding that other trunk lines will be named after the districts or main roads they cover.

Also, from Sunday, the final stops for routes 78X, 78C and A25 will be relocated to the Kai Tak public transport interchange at Airside in Kai Tak.

It also intends to enhance promotion of bus information at bus stops and on-board screens, with names of new trunk lines displayed on front of buses and electronic signs to remind passengers.