Exclusive bus lane to start trial phase

An exclusive bus lane, to run from Barra and Doca Lam Mau, will commence temporary testing tomorrow, announced Kuong Vai Cheok, head of Transport Planning and Development Department, yesterday.
Kuong, together with a small number of representatives from the Transport Bureau (DSAT), the police force, and three transportation companies, offered detailed information to the media about the bus lane’s schedule.
As explained by Kuong, the bus lane will initially be available in the morning from 7.30 a.m. to 9 a.m., and in the afternoons from 4.30 p.m. to 7 p.m., but only on weekends, and only in May, June, and the first half of July.
Starting from mid-July, the lane will become available for the whole week, before it formally commences operations by mid-August. Experimental operations will be conducted in July “to check if improvements are needed.”
According to Kuong, the parking spots involved in this project will not be available during the bus-only hours.
Furthermore, he indicated that the city’s buses transport approximately 540,000 passengers every day. The route from Barra to the Border Gate alone is responsible for 280,000 daily passengers. Kuong also noted that the authorities have established contingency plans to deal with emergencies, such as floods and fires, saying that the bus lane can be temporarily closed in the event of an emergency. Staff reporter