Ferries to Hong Kong’s outlying islands will increase next month, with fares for routes to Lamma Island and Cheung Chau expected to increase by 12.5 percent.
Fare adjustments will be made on six routes to areas including Cheung Chau, Lamma Island, Mui Wo and Peng Chau as part of a license renewal for Sun Ferry and Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry, which operate those routes.
The government proposed a 12.5 percent fare increase for one-way ferry trips between the center and three piers: Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan on Lamma Island and Cheung Chau.
Meanwhile, the government proposed standardizing fares for regular and high-speed ferries for the Mui Wo and Peng Chau lines. Currently, fast ferry journeys cost more than regular ferry journeys.
The change means fares will go up for regular journeys, but lower for high-speed ones.
For the Central-Mui Wo route, the department proposed setting the price of a travel ticket to increase to HK$33.5 from Monday to Saturday, from HK$34.1, the cost of a fast ferry ride.
The price on Sundays and public holidays is set at HK$48.5, lower than the current rate of HK$48.9 for a fast ferry ride.
Fares for the Central-Peng Chau line will be set at HK$31.9 from Monday to Saturday and HK$46.6 for Sundays and public holidays. Currently, the high-speed charges are HK$36.90 and HK$54.30 for those periods respectively.
‘Minimum Increase’
The Department of Transport said in a statement document to the Islands District Council that the fare increase is “moderate and represents only a minimal increase” and takes into account the travel needs of residents and the financial viability of ferry operators.
“If the fare increase rate were to be reduced further, the financial pressure on ferry operators would continue to accumulate,” the department wrote in the document.
Islands District Council members discussed the proposal at a meeting on Tuesday.
Some said the proposed hikes could pose a financial strain to elderly residents, who will no longer be able to pay a flat HK$2 fare for ferry rides following a revamp of a government subsidy scheme.
Under changes to the public transport subsidy scheme which will come into force on 1 April, the authorities will removes the HK$2 flat fee for travelers aged 60 and over. Senior travelers will pay HK$2 for fares up to HK$10, while trips exceeding this amount will receive an 80 per cent discount.
Yip Pui-kei on an RTHK program on Tuesday said he and other island district councilors had tried to oppose the fee hike. “Islanders feel they have no choice but to accept the fee increase, despite feeling it is still too much… for a daily expense,” he said in Cantonese.
Curtis Chiu, chief transport officer for ferries and transit at the Department of Transport, said at Tuesday’s meeting that the government had pushed back against ferry operators’ proposed 20 to 30 percent fare increase.
Assistant Commissioner for Transport Louisa Fung made similar comments on Wednesday, saying the department needed to balance the operating costs of ferry companies and the demands of residents. She also noted that the operators had initially asked for tariff increases of up to 30 percent.
“Both ferry service operators have been in financial difficulties,” she said in Cantonese. Leaving aside government subsidies, the six ferry routes would have a loss of about 35 percent to 50 percent, she added.
Fung also said prices for multi-trip tickets would see a smaller fare increase of 8 percent, which should be more tolerable for islanders compared to the increase for single-trip tickets.
