KMB
 |
|
|
|
| Parent | Transport International Holdings |
|---|---|
| Founded | 13 April 1933 (historical 1921) |
| Headquarters | 9, Po Lun Street, Lai Chi Kok |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Routes | 370 |
| Depots | Kowloon Bay Depot (K) Lai Chi Kok Depot (L) Sha Tin Depot (S) Tuen Mun Depot (U) |
| Fleet | 3,858 (October 2015) |
| Daily ridership | 2,617,000 (2014 average) |
| Annual ridership | 955,237,000 (2014) |
| Chief executive | Roger Lee (Managing Director) |
| Website | www |
The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB; Chinese: 九龍巴士(一九三三)有限公司), is a bus company operating franchised services in Hong Kong, and is the largest bus company in Hong Kong by fleet size and number of bus routes. It is a subsidiary of Transport International Holdings.
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 Victoria Harbour including KMB.
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. As only a handful of buses survived World War II, some lorries were temporarily converted into buses. By the late 1940s, KMB ridership increased with the huge influx of immigration from China. In 1949, KMB bought 20 Daimler double-deckers from England, becoming the first operator of double-deckers in Hong Kong.
Following the opening of the Cross Harbour Tunnel in 1972, KMB operated a number of cross-harbour routes jointly with CMB, China Motor Bus, the sole bus operator on Hong Kong Island. This marked the first time KMB buses running on the island.
In the same year, KMB began experimenting with buses operating without a fare collector. All passengers would board from the front door and pay the fare by putting money into the collection box next to the driver.
In 1975, the first air-conditioned bus in Hong Kong was put into service by KMB. Following the testing of double-deck air-conditioned buses Victory and Jubilant in the early 1980s, KMB became the world's first operator of such buses. All purchases after 1995 have been for air-conditioned buses.
...
Wikipedia