The Executive Council on Tuesday decided to allow three Hong Kong bus companies to increase their fares by 4.3 percent to 7.5 percent, which is not more than HK$1 (13 US cents) for most single trips, starting January 5.

Fares of Kowloon Motor Bus should increase by 4.3 percent on average after a 0.9 percentage points mitigation effect by its Franchised Bus Toll Exemption Fund, according to a document issued by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government after the ExCo meeting.

Citybus was allowed to increase its fares by 7.5 percent on average while fares of New Lantao Bus should go up by 6.5 percent.

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The three bus companies had applied for fare increases ranging from 6 to 9.5 percent last month.

With the new fare hike, about 80 percent of passengers are expected to pay no more than HK$0.5 extra per trip and about 95 percent of passengers should pay no more than $1 extra per trip.

The ExCo endeavored to minimize the fare hike’s impact on livelihood of city residents while also taking into consideration the financial sustainability of franchised bus operators.

Although patronage and revenue of franchised buses have bounced back noticeably after the COVID-19 pandemic, they have yet to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels due to various reasons, including changes in travelling and consumption patterns, according to an HKSAR government spokesman.

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He said franchised bus operators also needed to maintain reasonable remuneration packages to attract a high-quality workforce, as well as make investments in transition to a new energy bus fleet.

The HKSAR government has been implementing the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme to relieve the fare burden of passengers who use public transport and whose transport expenses are relatively high while the Government Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities also benefit elderly passengers and eligible persons with disabilities.