Hey fellow members!

I am planning to visit Hong Kong from beginning of July til end of August........mainly for visiting family, relatives and friends, but also hope to get a bit of time to mess around with buses here and there in between (and of course, would definitely be very keen to meet some of the local transit enthusiasts! The population of transit buffs in Hong Kong is purely amazing, given the city of its size with 4000+ people obsessed with buses, outnumbering the ones we have in Canada by far making us only a fraction of what you guys have!)

OK now, I'll lay this straight as simple as I can.........I know close to nothing about buses in Hong Kong, good enough to tell the differences in models and perhaps a little bit of fleet-organizing systems used by the three (or shall I say two?) major bus companies.........other than that, nothing else.

SO, Just a few questions that I have in mind as I am typing right now, will eventually add more questions if they arise in the future, and I hope you guys can try your best to help me out here!

1.) How many buses are there in Hong Kong? (Approximately)
2.) What's the ratio between single-decker and double-decker?
3.) What are some of the most unique / interesting / scenie / enjoyable routes that you would recommend me to try?
4.) What are some of the most unique buses in the system? (and how can I find them?)
5.) Do bus companies allow visitors for their garages / bus yards?
6.) Are there any fan trips / special activities coming up in between July - August?
7.) Other than the "common sense" hazards such as traffic, pedestrians etc., are there anything else that I should be careful about when taking pictures of buses / subway / LRT? (In particular, security measures taken by the transit agencies)
8.) Any particular districts / areas of town that I should avoid visiting? (what we call in North America - the "ghetto", usually describing run-down neighborhoods with high crime rates)

Finally........anyone interested to meet up or would like to talk individually, please do not hesistate to send me a PM and we'll work somethin' out!
Once again, I do understand Chinese, so please feel free to communicate in either English or Chinese......whatever you feel most comfortable with!

Best regards,

Dave

>6.) Are there any fan trips / special activities coming up in between July - August?

I think not for public. There might be some fan trips, but they are all restricted to bus fan clubs' members.

>7.) Other than the "common sense" hazards such as traffic, pedestrians etc., are there anything else that I should be careful about when taking pictures of buses / subway / LRT? (In particular, security measures taken by the transit agencies)

You can take photos freely almost anywhere. Hong Kong is not Singapore, normally there will be no one stop by you, and tell you to stop taking photos, in public areas. Unless if you are staying in private premises, there will be some security guards to ask you, 'what are you taking the photos for?' But if you say you are a tourist, there should not be any great problem.

>8.) Any particular districts / areas of town that I should avoid visiting? (what we call in North America - the "ghetto", usually describing run-down neighborhoods with high crime rates)

No! We have no places like ghettos in HK. Basically you can go anywhere freely, as long as you can find your way, get the right transportation, and, that's it. Enjoy!

Thanks to both gentlemen for being so helpful and informative!

- How many non-air-conditioned buses will remain in regular revenue service between July - August? What route / where can I find them the most easily?
- What buses are getting phased out? (and again, where can I find them?)
- Regarding the question about "unique buses", what I meant is buses that consist of maybe 1 or 2 out of the entire fleet, not operated in large numbers such as the Dennis Tridents or Enviro 500s, but rather.......stuff like Citybus 2500 / 2800........hopefully that would clarify my question.

Once again thanks for taking your time to help me out..........any additional information would be greatly appreciated!

Best regards,

Dave

- How many non-air-conditioned buses will remain in regular revenue service between July - August? What route / where can I find them the most easily?
Non-air-conditioned buses ("hot dogs") do not enjoy "summer holiday". KMB's Route 5A is the only Kowloon route with just "hot dogs".

- What buses are getting phased out? (and again, where can I find them?)
KMB's AM, which all regular buses of Route 53 are, is being phased out.

- Regarding the question about "unique buses", what I meant is buses that consist of maybe 1 or 2 out of the entire fleet, not operated in large numbers such as the Dennis Tridents or Enviro 500s, but rather.......stuff like Citybus 2500 / 2800........hopefully that would clarify my question.
KMB's APM1, AVD1, ATEU1, ASU1 and ASU2 are also unique.

3.) What are some of the most unique / interesting / scenie / enjoyable routes that you would recommend me to try?
4.) What are some of the most unique buses in the system? (and how can I find them?)

3) Route 14 (hilly, usually fast, include a section of road built on a dam which pretty narrow)
4) Dennis Trident 10.3M low-profile, designed specially for NWFB
you can find them at route 9(Shek O<-> Shau Kei Wan),13(City Hall<->Kotewall Road),14(Sai Wan Ho<->Stanley) and 15(The Peak<->Central Pier)
enjoy your trip

For the route that you can find non-AC buses most easily.
I suggest KMB's route number 82K and 73
They all are running by non-AC buses
or you may try number 66,70,72A
There are many "hot dog' in these line too

One more route that you can find those non-air con. buses is 38A, which runs from Tsuen Wan Riviera Garden to Mei Foo.
It is the very few routes in Tsuen Wan that is "totally non-air conditioned".

By the way, there are quite a number of buses being phased out, for example, the air-con. Leylands (ALs) and the non-air-con. Dennis Dragons (S3Ns) -- for those which are phasing out, they all have their license numbers starting with "E".
To try out the ALs, it's not so difficult although most of them are spare buses. You may find ALs running in many routes, but usually routes in the New Territories would have a much higher chance to have ALs on service.
To have a ride on the S3Ns, you may take 38A (it has one such S3N running regularly), 73A (it also has one), 70 (it has 2), etc.