History
The Public light bus service started as a result of the 1967 Hong Kong riots. Workers of China Motor Bus and Kowloon Motor Bus were incited to go on strike. During the riot, buses and trams were not available and the territory was ground to a halt.
The buses can also be traced back to a local minibus system (黑牌車) used in the New Territories prior to 1960s. They were allowed to operate in the urban areas of Hong Kong after 1967 to ease commuter chaos.
At the time people with mini-vans provided transport to the public for a small charge. The government turned a blind eye even though it was against traffic laws to carry passengers without a passenger service licence. The 1969 legislation legalising the service making some 5,000 licences available for drivers caused some controversy. Some believed it was wrong of the government to issue licences to people who had been profiting from an illegal activity.
The first generation light buses were vans carrying nine passengers. The buses had a black and white checkered stripe and was colloquially referred to as the zebra car (斑馬車). This design later gave way to the red striped vans (colloquially as "red bus" or "14 seat") of today. Seating increased over the years to 14 and finally to 16 seats. Earlier minibuses featured a door on the front passenger side. The destination signage at the top front of minibuses did not appear until 1977 and the rear bench seat disappeared altogether following the installation of air conditioning.
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