| Parent | Transport International Holdings Limited |
|---|---|
| Founded | 13 April 1933 [1] |
| Headquarters | Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon |
| Locale | Hong Kong |
| Routes | 399 |
| Daily ridership | 2.7 million[2] |
| Web site | www.kmb.hk/ |
The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB; Chinese: 九龍巴士(一九三三)有限公司), a company of the Transport International Holdings Limited, is the largest franchised bus operators in Hong Kong, and one of the largest privately owned public bus operators in the world. For its franchised service in Hong Kong, KMB operates a fleet consisting of about 4,000 buses on 399 routes and employs a staff of over 12,000.
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KMB was founded on 13 April 1933 as a result of the reformation of public transport by the Hong Kong Government. Before the reformation, there were several independent bus operators working on both sides of the Victoria Harbour.
The KMB franchise allowed for the operation of public omnibus service on the Kowloon side, as well as the New Territories. By 11 June 1933, KMB had a fleet of 106 single deck buses.
The founding members of KMB were:
By 1940, KMB had 140 single-deckers operating on 17 routes. After World War II, only a handful of buses survived, and therefore some lorries were converted into buses.
By the late 1940s, KMB ridership increased with the huge influx of immigration after the war. In 1949, KMB bought 20 Daimler double-deckers from England, becoming the first operator to operate double-deckers in Hong Kong.
Following the opening of the Cross Harbour Tunnel in 1972, a number of cross harbour routes was jointly operated by KMB with China Motor Bus, the sole bus operator on Hong Kong Island. With the tunnels, KMB service expanded from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. At the same time, KMB experimented with buses operating without fare collector (also referred to as One Man Operated).
In 1975, the first air-conditioned bus in Hong Kong was put into service by KMB. Following the testing of the double-decked air-conditioned bus in early 1980s (Victory and Jubilant), KMB became the world's first air-conditioned double-decker operator. Today 95.1 percent of KMB bus fleet is air-conditioned.
In 1996, KMB formed a subsidiary named Long Win Bus Company on Lantau Link with service to the new Hong Kong International Airport and Tung Chung.
Starting from 1998, KMB extended her network into mainland China when a co-operative joint venture - Dalian Hong Kong Macau Company Limited, started its operation.
In 1999, KMB started to operate some of the KCR Feeder Bus (now MTR Feeder Bus) routes, which are complimentary free services of the KCR East Rail (now MTR East Rail Line).
KMB is the first franchised bus company in Hong Kong that achieved the following:
A passenger pays fare by either cash (no change given) or an Octopus card, a smart card fare collection system used in Hong Kong. Discounts apply for Octopus users on specified interchange combinations.[3] Generally, the bus fare decreases as the passenger boards the bus at stops closer to the end of the route.
In response to the railway merger of Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) and Mass Transit Railway (MTR), KMB launched a major interchange fare reduction scheme.[4]
In December 2008, Kowloon Motor Bus has a fleet of 3,933 buses with 3,805 double-deckers and more than 95% of the double-deck fleet is air-conditioned. All of the buses comply with Euro emission standards, making KMB the largest environment-friendly bus operator in Hong Kong.
The KMB Fleet is allocated and spread across four major depots across Kowloon and the New Territories and is identified by letter (either K, L, S or U). These letters are placed on the bottom left of the driver's windscreen, although some of the buses in the fleet still have the letter placed under the windscreen.
KMB buses are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. Newer buses, like the Enviro 500, have coloured CCTV cameras installed whereas older buses use a mirror. Bus stop announcement systems installed in every bus informs passengers of the next stop. LCD TVs with programs are also available on most air-conditioned buses. These programs are provided by RoadShow.
KMB routes are mainly concentrated on Kowloon and in the New Territories, and these routes are served solely by KMB. It also operates cross-harbour tunnel routes in cooperation with two other Hong Kong bus operators, New World First Bus and Citybus.
KMB currently operates 399 routes in Hong Kong. See list of bus routes in Hong Kong for details.
Route numbers consist of a number, optionally preceded by or followed by a letter. If the number has one or two digits, the following numbering scheme is observed:
| Routes | Service areas |
|---|---|
| 1-29 | Urban Kowloon |
| 30-39 | Tsuen Wan and Kwai Chung |
| 40-49 | Sha Tin (via Shing Mun Tunnel), Tsing Yi, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung |
| 50-69 | Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai |
| 70-79 | Tai Po, Sheung Shui, Fanling |
| 80-89 | Sha Tin |
| 90-99 | Tseung Kwan O and Sai Kung |
If the number has three digits, the first digit signifies the service, and the remaining two digits follow the above numbering scheme except as indicated:
| Prefix | Service | Exceptions to numbering scheme |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (1xx) | Cross-harbour routes via the Cross-Harbour Tunnel. | Routes 170 and 171: the digit 7 follows the numbering scheme on the Hong Kong Island for service to the southern Hong Kong Island. |
| 2 (2xx) | Routes using air-conditioned buses only | |
| 3 (3xx) | Special cross-harbour tunnel routes, service during morning and/or evening rush hours only | 307 is an exception, where originally it was a rush-hour only route, but currently serving as normal timetable. |
| 6 (6xx) | Cross-harbour routes via the Eastern Harbour Crossing. | |
| 8 (8xx) | Routes serving the Sha Tin Racecourse on horse racing days. | |
| 9 (9xx) | Cross-harbour routes via the Western Harbour Crossing. |
On buses with printed plaques and at bus stops, routes are displayed in white on black, with the exception of 1xx and 6xx routes that are in white on red, and 9xx in white on green on bus stops and white on red on printed plaques. On buses with dot-matrix displays, the dots are always in yellow and thus the route number and destination are displayed in yellow on brown/black.
The suffix letter carries additional information about the route:
| Suffix letter | Meaning |
|---|---|
| A through F | Sometimes they designate parallel routes with different destinations, like 1 vs 1A and 6 vs 6A, but more often they are unique identifiers, like 2, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F -- there is hardly any overlap in these routes. |
| K | Routes with a KCR (now MTR East Rail Line and West Rail Line) station as the destination, for example 87K, 93K. |
| M | Routes with an MTR station as the destination, for example 59M, 68M, 264M. |
| P | Routes that have limited hours or days of service, for example 69P. With exceptions of 8P and 276P, where it serves as normal timetable. |
| R | Recreational routes, for example 96R, 269R. |
| S | Special routes, for example 14S, 76S, 265S. |
| X | Express routes, for example 11X, 49X, 68X, 74X, 215X, etc. |
The prefix letter N indicates that the route is an overnight route, for example N122, N241, N269, etc.
Route numbers 1-99 and used by KMB can also be used by Citybus or New World First Bus for routes on the Hong Kong Island, or by the New Lantau Bus on the Lantau Island. The rest of the routes are unique within Hong Kong.
KMB has no 5xx (Hong Kong Island, air-conditioned bus routes), 7xx (Express bus using the Island Corridor), or Axx or Exx (service to the airport). Currently KMB does not use Mxx to designate buses serving an Airport Express station.
Kowloon Motor Bus also had a defunct Hong Kong football club Kowloon Motor Bus Co.. It was formed in 1947 and joined Hong Kong First Division League in 1947-48 season. Nicknamed "Atomic Bus", the team obtained the only two league titles in 1953-54 and 1966-67. The team attained its peak in the 1950s and 1960s when the "South China - Kowloon Motor Bus Co. crash" (南巴大戰) was one of the highlighted rival matches in Hong Kong. In 1970-71, the team faced their first relegation, but was able to stay in the First Division as Jardines quit the league in the following season. However, the team still got relegated 2 years later in 1972-73. It made its last First Division League appearance in 1976-77 when they relegated immediately after being newly promoted. In 1981, the football team quit the league.
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