Quality Public Light Bus Driver Award 2002

Outstanding public light bus (PLB) drivers will be commended for their excellent service through an award scheme jointly organized by the Transport Department and the Quality Public Light Bus Services Steering Committee (QPSSC) and co-organized by the Public Light Bus Associations.

The Quality Public Light Bus Driver Award 2002 which was launched at a ceremony today (April 13) also aimed at encouraging the PLB trade to strive to brush up PLB service quality.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the award scheme, Chairman of QPSSC, Mr. K. S. Yeung said: "In the past few years, the government has been making effort to promote the HK tourism and preach the service industry to exalt the good quality culture by exercising the customer-oriented service.

"The PLB trade has more than 10,000 PLB drivers and frontline staff and carries over 1.6 million passengers daily, which ranks the third highest passenger carrying capacity among the public transport modes. It is thus believed that the performance of PLB driver plays an important role in constituting good quality culture. "

The assessment criteria are referred to the six major passenger satisfactory findings from the recent PLB Passenger Satisfaction Survey which include 1. concentration when driving, 2. compliance with traffic regulation, 3. familiarity with routeing, 4. concern of passengers' safety, 5. politeness; and 6. internal tidiness and cleanliness.

Also speaking at the opening, the Commissioner for Transport Mr. Robert Footman, said: "The PLB Passenger Satisfaction Survey reveals that PLB passengers are generally satisfied with the quality of PLB services. To cope with the ever increasing passenger's expectation and demand for higher quality of PLB service, the PLB trade shall strive to achieve improvement, particularly the customer service skill and safety driving attitude. "

During the nomination period from April 13 to April 30, passengers can cast votes to those green mini-bus or red mini-bus PLB drivers with Driver Name Plates. The nomination forms can be picked up at all Transport Department Licensing Offices, Home Affairs Department, PLB terminus, inside PLB cabinet and downloaded from the Transport Department homepage.

The nominee drivers will have opportunities to win the awards, including 10 Outstanding PLB Drivers, 30 Merits PLB Drivers and 100 Quality PLB Drivers. The prizes will include trophies, Driver Name Plates and coupons. Also, all the nominators will have a chance to be rewarded by lucky draw. The result will be announced at the prize presentation ceremony to be held in June 2002.

To promote the Quality PLB Driver Award, a slogan design contest was also launched today.

All PLB passengers are invited to express their expectations of Quality PLB driver on the topics related to 1. safety driving; 2. conduct of professional driver; and 3. good customer services.

At the end of the opening ceremony, the guests distributed the nomination forms at the PLB terminal, Lan Fong Rd., Causeway Bay to appeal to PLB passengers to vote for the award scheme.

End/Saturday, April 13, 2002