William H.K. Lam

The opening of the Eastern Harbour Crossing provided a new road link crossing the harbour which enabled the two bus companies (i.e. the China Motor Bus Company, CMB and the Kowloon Motor Bus Company, KMB) to develop a new cross harbour network to supplement the existing one. Two new cross harbour bus routes, namely, Route Nos. 601 and 606, were introduced on 22nd September 1989 together with the opening of the Eastern Harbour Crossing. After two months service, it is about the time to review the performance of the two new bus routes and to improve the frequency when demand warrants. In this study, boarding and alighting counts were carried out during the A.M. and P.M. peak periods, together with the bus speed and delay study. Comparison of bus speeds before and after the strike of the CMB staff was also given. In addition, passenger load counts were conducted on the maximum load points so as to evaluate the existing bus services. Finally, some important conclusions and suggestions have been drawn for possible improvements of the above two bus routes.