A Hong Kong-Zhuhai- Macau Bridge (HKZMB) shuttle bus operator is reporting losses due to a large number of mainland elderly one-day tour groups taking advantage of the discounted fare of the shuttle bus for elderlies, according to Hong Kong news reports.
Zhang Guangyou, chairman of the bridge’s shuttle bus operator, said that mainland China’s travel agencies are assembling group tours to take the bus in order to visit the bridge, which results in an extremely unbalanced number of passengers during different hours.
As Zhang explained, in the morning, these elderly group tours take the bus from Zhuhai to Hong Kong, and because of the huge number of passengers waiting at Zhuhai, the company needs to send empty buses to return to Zhuhai immediately in order to pick up more mainland seniors to Hong Kong.
In the afternoon, the same situation happens. The bus operator has to continue arranging empty buses to get to Hong Kong just to pick up the mainland seniors at the Hong Kong port and send them back to Zhuhai.
These senior package tours are catered to mainland residents aged above 65 years old, who can travel the HKZMB for a 50 percent discounted fare.
For each single deck bus (35 seats), the bus company only receives approximately RMB1,000 (29 RMB per head).
During rush hours, the cost of an empty bus’s round trip is RMB600. Together with fuel costs and driver’s payment, each bus is said to yield a loss between RMB300 and RMB500 from each empty round trip.
The company hopes that both the Guangdong and Hong Kong governments can quickly regulate these situations.
In addition to the abovementioned situation, all Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai ports have been reporting water leakage in many places.
Among the three ports, the Macau port recorded the most amount of water leakage from the ceiling.
The Macau Security Force claimed it will improve the facilities.
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