History
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:
- Sir Tang Shiu-kin (鄧肇堅)
- William Louey Sui Tak (雷瑞德)
- Lui Leung (雷亮)
- Tam Woon Tong (譚煥堂)
- Lam Ming Fan (林明勳)
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 were 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. KMB ceased to introduce non-air-conditioned buses after 1995.
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).
On 9 May 2012, KMB withdrew all its remaining non-air-conditioned buses from service, from then on all the franchised bus routes in Hong Kong were operated solely by air-conditioned buses.
Read more about this topic: Kowloon Motor Bus
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