Overview
There are two types of public light minibus, Green minibuses and Red minibuses. Both types have a cream coloured body, the distinguishing feature being the colour of the external roof, and the type of service that the colour denotes. In the past, the minibuses had a band of red or green painted around the body instead of colouring the roof.
Most of the minibus are Toyota Coasters, but a new and environmentally friendly Iveco Daily Green minibus has also been introduced to reduce air pollution. Most of the buses run on Autogas (liquefied petroleum gas or LPG). This type of fuel is not only cheaper, but also reduces emissions. The transport commission is making further efforts to reduce emissions by providing incentives for bus drivers to make the switch to even more efficient electric vehicles.
By 2005, there are 4,350 public light buses in Hong Kong, of which 1,660 are red minibuses (RMBs) and 2,690 are green minibuses (GMBs). The operations of these two types of services are regulated through conditions imposed by the Commissioner for Transport under the passenger service licences (PSLs).
On all public green minibuses, a large passenger-visible speedometer is installed on the interior roof adjacent to the driver seat, allowing passengers to effective see the speed a minibus is currently travelling at. The purpose of these speedometers was to raise the public awareness upon the issue of speeding in minibuses, thus all speedometers are set with a visual and audible alarm that activates when the bus reaches a speed greater than 80 km/h. This prevents buses from embarking on speeds of above 80 km/h and as of such it is not unusual to see these buses operate less on freeways and more in urban areas. On red minibuses, the passenger speedometer is installed and activated often at the driver's own discretion and because of this, these meters are only seen rarely in red buses.
From 2012, all public light buses were required to install speed limiters which restricted the maximum speed of the vehicles to 80 km/h.
Read more about this topic: Public Light Bus