Second low-floor wheelchair accessible public light bus to commence service next Monday (with photo)

     The Transport Department (TD) today (May 23) announced that the second low-floor wheelchair accessible Public Light Bus (PLB) will be put into service from next Monday (May 28) on New Territories green minibus (GMB) route No. 808 (Kam Ying Court – Prince of Wales Hospital) for an on-the-spot trial operation. 

     A spokesman for the TD said, "Further to the Government's commencement of the low-floor wheelchair accessible PLB trial scheme on Hong Kong Island GMB route No. 54M (Kennedy Town Station – Queen Mary Hospital), we are glad that the second wheelchair accessible PLB will be put into service next week. This can further facilitate wheelchair users to use PLB services."

     The second low-floor PLB has space for one wheelchair. It will operate from 8.30am to 8.05pm from Monday to Friday (except public holidays). There will be no services on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The operator will display the detailed service timetable at the stops of the GMB route. 

     As with the arrangements for the first low-floor PLB, the operator will provide a telephone reservation service for wheelchair users. Passengers may call the operator hotline (9163 8589) to reserve the wheelchair space up to 14 days in advance and at least one working day before taking the service. Wheelchair passengers with a reservation may use the service with one accompanying person, and have to state their request when making the reservation. 

     The spokesman added, "Since the telephone reservation service will enable wheelchair passengers using the low-floor PLB, we encourage wheelchair passengers to make use of the reservation service as far as possible."
 
     The trial scheme will be extended to another hospital route travelling via St Teresa’s Hospital in Kowloon later this year. The TD will continue to closely monitor the operation of the low-floor PLBs. The TD plans to review the operational effectiveness of the trial scheme by end-2018 and will discuss with the trade on further promoting low-floor PLBs if the trial scheme proves them to be feasible and desirable.