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(Redirected from KMB)
:''"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.
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 (鄧肇堅)
★ William Louey Sui Tak (雷瑞德)
★ Choy Wai Hung
★ Lui Leung (雷亮)
★ Tam Woon Tong (譚煥堂)
★ Lam Ming Fan (林明勳)
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.
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)
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 fare decreases as the passenger boards the bus at stops closer to the end of the route.
In 2005, Kowloon Motor Bus has a fleet of over 4,300 buses with over 80% of the fleet being double-deckers and of that, around 90% of the double-deck fleet is air-conditioned:
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.
★ K: Formerly Kwun Tong Depot, Currently Kowloon Bay Depot
★ L: Lai Chi Kok Depot
★ S: Sha Tin Depot
★ U: Formerly Un Long(Yuen Long) Depot, currently Tuen Mun Depot
''For the fleet numbering system, see Kowloon Motor Bus Fleet Numbering.''
''For more information about the bus fleet, see Kowloon Motor Bus Fleet.''
KMB buses are equipped with state of the art facilities. Newer buses, like the Enviro 500, 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. TV with programs are also available on most air-conditioned buses. These programs are provided by RoadShow.
Most of KMB routes are mainly concentrated on Kowloon and the New Territories, its major service area. It also operates cross-harbour tunnel routes with other Hong Kong bus operators, New World First Bus and Citybus.
KMB is the sole operator of most of its routes, but some cross-harbour routes are jointly operated with either Citybus or New World First Bus. No new jointly operated routes have been introduced since and there are no plans for any more.
''KMB currently operates over 400 routes in Hong Kong, see list of bus routes in Hong Kong for details.''
The route numbers are grouped under a logical order. The numbers are normally written in white font with black background, with some exceptions stated below.
It has a system of 'ABBC'. There are no leading zeros in this number system.
★ 'A' digit represents the type of the route
★ 'BB' digits represent the area coverage of the route
★ 'C' digit represents the specific route
'A' is a numerical digit that is 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 or 9. Digit 1 represents a cross-harbour route via Cross-Harbour Tunnel. All 100s series routes have a white font with red background. Digit 2 represents all the buses serving that particular route are air-conditioned. It follows the normal font and background colour. Digit 6 represents a cross-harbour route via Eastern Harbour Crossing. All 600s series routes have a while font with a red background. 800s series bus routes serve the Sha Tin Racecourse on horse racing days. Digit 9 represents a cross-harbour route via Western Harbour Crossing. The 900s series routes have a white font with green background. Most routes with an initial "3" indicates a morning cross-harbour express route.
'BB' digits can be one or two numerical digits. It shows the area the route serves.
★ Route 1 to route 20s - urban Kowloon
★ Route 30s - Kwai Fong
★ Route 40s - Tsuen Wan
★ Route 50s - Yuen Long
★ Route 60s - Tuen Mun
★ Route 70s - Tai Po and Fanling
★ Route 80s - Sha Tin
★ Route 90s - Tseung Kwan O
'C' digit is an alphabet digit. It shows the route is a deviation of the "BB" route mentioned above. Some letters carry special meanings.
★ K indicates that the route serves a KCR station
★ M indictates that the route serves an MTR station
★ P indicates that the route is probationary, only serves during rush hours
★ X indicates that the route is an express, but does not necessary mean the deviation route is faster than the original route
All night bus have a letter 'N' in front of their bus route number.
The route number system is quite similar to routes on the Hong Kong Island side of the harbour, yet the numbers on the two sides are non-exclusive. Another set of numbering is used by the New Lantao Bus, which makes there are three Bus Route 1 in Hong Kong (and more including the minibuses).
★ New World First Bus and Citybus - owned by NWS Transport Services Limited
★ China Motor Bus - lost franchise to New World First Bus in 1998
★ The most frequent bus route in KMB is route 273 (Wah Ming Estate-Fanling KCR Station Circular), which buses depart at 1-minute intervals during rush hour. The next ones are route 211 (Tsui Chuk Garden - Wong Tai Sin MTR Station Circular) and cross-harbour route 681 (Ma On Shan Town Centre - Hong Kong Station), which buses depart at 2-minute intervals during rush hour. The least frequent is route 94 (Sai Kung-Wong Shek Pier), which depart at 30-35 minute intervals.
★ The longest travelling route in KMB is route 373A from Wah Ming Estate to Wan Chai (Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre) through Fanling Highway and route 3, with the length of 52.3 km; the second will be route 373 (Sheung Shui-Sheung Wan) through Luen Wo Hui and Eastern Harbour Crossing, with the length of 50.2 km. The shortest route is KCRC Feeder Bus route K18 (Kwong Fuk Estate-Tai Po Market KCR Station), with the length of 1.3 km.
★ The longest circular route is 85M (Kam Ying Court-Wong Tai Sin), with the whole journey of 30.6 km, while route 71B (Fu Hang Estate-Tai Po Centre)is the shortest circular route, with the length of 2.3 km.
★ The most expensive route is 869, costing $38 from Sha Tin Racecourse to Tin Shui Wai Town Centre, following by 802, 807 and 811, which cost $34.2. The cheapest route is 71B, with the cost of $1.6.
★ Transportation in Hong Kong
★ RoadShow (A Transport International subsidiary company providing TV broadcast on buses)
★ List of Hong Kong companies
★ The Bus Uncle (An incident that took place on a Kowloon Motor Bus and became an internet phenomenon)
★ KMB Home Page
★ NA Transit - Kowloon Motor Bus (1933)
:''"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.
| Contents |
| History |
| Innovations |
| Fare |
| Fleet |
| Facilities |
| Routes |
| Route Numbering System |
| Rivals |
| Trivia |
| See also |
| External links |
History
Oldest double decker of KMB bus preserved, starting serving in 1949
The world's first A/C double decker bus which belongs to KMB.
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 (鄧肇堅)
★ William Louey Sui Tak (雷瑞德)
★ Choy Wai Hung
★ Lui Leung (雷亮)
★ Tam Woon Tong (譚煥堂)
★ Lam Ming Fan (林明勳)
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.
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 fare decreases as the passenger boards the bus at stops closer to the end of the route.
Fleet
This is a bus with a space for wheelchair person. The front door has a platform that can be folded outwards to allow loading a person on wheelchair directly from the curb.
In 2005, Kowloon Motor Bus has a fleet of over 4,300 buses with over 80% of the fleet being double-deckers and of that, around 90% of the double-deck fleet is air-conditioned:
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.
★ K: Formerly Kwun Tong Depot, Currently Kowloon Bay Depot
★ L: Lai Chi Kok Depot
★ S: Sha Tin Depot
★ U: Formerly Un Long(Yuen Long) Depot, currently Tuen Mun Depot
''For the fleet numbering system, see Kowloon Motor Bus Fleet Numbering.''
''For more information about the bus fleet, see Kowloon Motor Bus Fleet.''
Facilities
KMB buses are equipped with state of the art facilities. Newer buses, like the Enviro 500, 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. TV with programs are also available on most air-conditioned buses. These programs are provided by RoadShow.
Routes
Most of KMB routes are mainly concentrated on Kowloon and the New Territories, its major service area. It also operates cross-harbour tunnel routes with other Hong Kong bus operators, New World First Bus and Citybus.
KMB is the sole operator of most of its routes, but some cross-harbour routes are jointly operated with either Citybus or New World First Bus. No new jointly operated routes have been introduced since and there are no plans for any more.
''KMB currently operates over 400 routes in Hong Kong, see list of bus routes in Hong Kong for details.''
Route Numbering System
The route numbers are grouped under a logical order. The numbers are normally written in white font with black background, with some exceptions stated below.
It has a system of 'ABBC'. There are no leading zeros in this number system.
★ 'A' digit represents the type of the route
★ 'BB' digits represent the area coverage of the route
★ 'C' digit represents the specific route
'A' is a numerical digit that is 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 or 9. Digit 1 represents a cross-harbour route via Cross-Harbour Tunnel. All 100s series routes have a white font with red background. Digit 2 represents all the buses serving that particular route are air-conditioned. It follows the normal font and background colour. Digit 6 represents a cross-harbour route via Eastern Harbour Crossing. All 600s series routes have a while font with a red background. 800s series bus routes serve the Sha Tin Racecourse on horse racing days. Digit 9 represents a cross-harbour route via Western Harbour Crossing. The 900s series routes have a white font with green background. Most routes with an initial "3" indicates a morning cross-harbour express route.
'BB' digits can be one or two numerical digits. It shows the area the route serves.
★ Route 1 to route 20s - urban Kowloon
★ Route 30s - Kwai Fong
★ Route 40s - Tsuen Wan
★ Route 50s - Yuen Long
★ Route 60s - Tuen Mun
★ Route 70s - Tai Po and Fanling
★ Route 80s - Sha Tin
★ Route 90s - Tseung Kwan O
'C' digit is an alphabet digit. It shows the route is a deviation of the "BB" route mentioned above. Some letters carry special meanings.
★ K indicates that the route serves a KCR station
★ M indictates that the route serves an MTR station
★ P indicates that the route is probationary, only serves during rush hours
★ X indicates that the route is an express, but does not necessary mean the deviation route is faster than the original route
All night bus have a letter 'N' in front of their bus route number.
The route number system is quite similar to routes on the Hong Kong Island side of the harbour, yet the numbers on the two sides are non-exclusive. Another set of numbering is used by the New Lantao Bus, which makes there are three Bus Route 1 in Hong Kong (and more including the minibuses).
Rivals
★ New World First Bus and Citybus - owned by NWS Transport Services Limited
★ China Motor Bus - lost franchise to New World First Bus in 1998
Trivia
★ The most frequent bus route in KMB is route 273 (Wah Ming Estate-Fanling KCR Station Circular), which buses depart at 1-minute intervals during rush hour. The next ones are route 211 (Tsui Chuk Garden - Wong Tai Sin MTR Station Circular) and cross-harbour route 681 (Ma On Shan Town Centre - Hong Kong Station), which buses depart at 2-minute intervals during rush hour. The least frequent is route 94 (Sai Kung-Wong Shek Pier), which depart at 30-35 minute intervals.
★ The longest travelling route in KMB is route 373A from Wah Ming Estate to Wan Chai (Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre) through Fanling Highway and route 3, with the length of 52.3 km; the second will be route 373 (Sheung Shui-Sheung Wan) through Luen Wo Hui and Eastern Harbour Crossing, with the length of 50.2 km. The shortest route is KCRC Feeder Bus route K18 (Kwong Fuk Estate-Tai Po Market KCR Station), with the length of 1.3 km.
★ The longest circular route is 85M (Kam Ying Court-Wong Tai Sin), with the whole journey of 30.6 km, while route 71B (Fu Hang Estate-Tai Po Centre)is the shortest circular route, with the length of 2.3 km.
★ The most expensive route is 869, costing $38 from Sha Tin Racecourse to Tin Shui Wai Town Centre, following by 802, 807 and 811, which cost $34.2. The cheapest route is 71B, with the cost of $1.6.
See also
★ Transportation in Hong Kong
★ RoadShow (A Transport International subsidiary company providing TV broadcast on buses)
★ List of Hong Kong companies
★ The Bus Uncle (An incident that took place on a Kowloon Motor Bus and became an internet phenomenon)
External links
★ KMB Home Page
★ NA Transit - Kowloon Motor Bus (1933)
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