'Fuel costs, falling revenue behind fare hike bids'

Bus operators said a sharp rise in fuel costs has created a huge financial burden and other revenue streams were also falling, as the four firms seek fare increases with Citybus applying for the highest rise of 17.7 per cent. Appearing before the Legislative Council's transport panel on Friday, representatives from the bus operators said fuel prices had risen sharply, causing significant financial pressure. "We're incurring approximately an additional HK$60 million a month in fuel compared to what we were at the beginning of this year. And for Long Win Bus Company it's approximately HK$6 million extra each month which is overall more than double what we were paying last year," Martin Cadman, operations director of the Kowloon Motor Bus, told lawmakers. "Post-war oil prices... just an increase of one or two dollars a litre can succeed in eliminating all of our modest profits which is quite something. It shows how sensitive we are to such events," Mark Savelli, operations director of New Lantao Bus said. He noted that the worst he saw was a rise of US$7 per litre. Bus company representatives also cited other factors, including changing travel patterns leading to falling revenue. They stressed that they had already made efforts to...