(Translation)

Islands District Council Traffic and Transport Committee Paper T&TC 62/2015

Question on handling of unforeseen accidents by Transit Services Limited

Ms. Amy YUNG notifies this Council that she will raise the following enquiry at the Traffic and Transport Committee meeting to be held on 29 September this year:

“ Under the current arrangements, buses on route DB03R travels to MTR Sunny Bay Station via Discovery Bay Tunnel, Cheung Tung Road and Sunny Bay Road. The whole bus ride is about 15-20 minutes.

Some passengers travelling on a bus route DB03R to Sunny Bay in the afternoon of 5.9.2015 accounts that the driver temporarily diverted the bus to run via , North Lantau Highway, Penny’s Bay Highway and Sunny Bay Road to MTR Sunny Bay Station due to a traffic accident at Cheung Tung Road. The duration of the diversion route was around one hour. Nonetheless, the driver did not notify passengers that the route diversion was caused by a traffic accident.

These passengers questioned that the bus operator should not allow any buses to run on non-fixed route as it would render them unable to receive insurance compensation in case of traffic accident. In addition, if the bus company and the driver had already learned about the occurance of the traffic accident at section of the road connecting Sunny Bay, they should have informed the passengers and deploy buses destined for MTR Tung Chung (DB01R) to divert passengers to Tung Chung where they could switch to take other modes of public transport. Lastly, even though the bus company had decided that the bus route DB03R had to be diverted and travelled via Tung Chung, North Lantau Highway, Penny’s Bay Highway and Sunny Bay Road, it should s have allowed the passengers to alight at the to minimize the traffic delays caused by the traffic accident.

As such, I request the Transport Department (“TD”) to attend the meeting and respond to the following:

1. Could the residents’ bus operator temporarily divert the route if a traffic accident occurs at a major road section? Whether the third party risk insurance would become void if traffic accident befalls a residents’ bus travelling on non-fixed route? 2. According to current regulations, could the residents’ bus operator and the bus drivers temporarily arrange to drop off passengers at Tung Chung or any other places in response to traffic accident at the road section connecting Sunny Bay? 3. Does the TD has any guidelines that could help residents’ bus operators make proper arrangements that could better deal with traffic accidents affecting the bus schedules and services?

I also request the Discovery Bay Transit Services Limited to attend the meeting and respond to the following :

1. After the occurrence of the traffic accident at Cheung Tung Road, did the company post notice on every bus stop and in front of each vehicle, showing the temporary route diversion and advising passengers to use other means of transport? Did the drivers and other staff notify passengers at Discovery Bay and Sunny Bay? 2. Did the company arrange more buses to take passengers to MTR Tung Chung Station? 3. If similar traffic accident happens again, could the company arrange to have bus route DB03R stop at MTR Tung Chung Station so that the passengers could reach Sunny Bay as soon as possible? ”

Islands District Council Secretariat File Ref.: IS 141/4/02

Date: 11 September 2015