Bus service company Kuo-Kuang Motor Transport took a bow from six routes in southern Taiwan yesterday, making the final trips for its buses between Kaohsiung and Kenting and Kaohsiung and Pingtung County.
The Kuo-Kuang buses that ceased operations include bus No. 9127, which runs between Kaohsiung’s Zili Bus Station and Pingtung County’s Dapeng Bay, No. 9117 for Zili Station and Kenting’s Small Beach, No. 9189 for Zuoying High Speed Rail Station and Small Beach, and No. 9188 for Zili Station and Kenting’s Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻).
As of yesterday, the services for those four routes would be shared between Ping Tung Bus Co and Kaohsiung Bus Co.
Photo courtesy of the Directorate-General of Highways’ Kaohsiung Motor Vehicles Office
Kuo-Kuang also ended services for bus No. 1773, which serves the Pingtung Bus Station and Hengchun Bus Station route, and No. 1780 for Pingtung Bus Station and Pingtung County’s Fangliao Township (枋寮).
Ping Tung Bus Co is to take over operations for the two routes, Kuo-Kuang said.
Kuo-Kuang assured commuters that the travel quality of the routes would continue under the new operators, adding that the schedules of the services would remain unchanged.
The company has throughout the year announced its intention to cease operations for a number of routes due to prolonged financial losses.
With cars becoming commonplace in Taiwan, and the competition from other modes of transport, such as the Taiwan Railway and the Taiwan High Speed Rail, operations for the long-haul bus company have been quite challenging, Kuo-Kuang said.
After paying back its bank loans, the company is still more than NT$2 billion (US$65.35 million) in debt, it said.
Due to this, Kuo-Kuang said it applied to stop servicing 14 routes that have contributed to the company’s continued financial losses, which are estimated to be about NT$190 million every year.
The Highway Bureau said it approved Kuo-Kuang’s decision to step away from the six southern routes, which is effective today, adding that the future of the other eight routes the bus company wants to terminate would be announced by Tuesday.
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