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8.6.6 Ail routes operated by the Star Ferry Company wouid be vulnerable to disruptionscaused by the Central and Wan Chai Reclamation which is currently at the planningstage. Careful planning of the necessary relocations of ferry piers will be necessary toretain adequate access during the period of the reclamation.The Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry Company (HYF)8.6.7 HYF has been particularly affected by the opening of the existing road and railcross-harbour tunnels; the additional cross-harbour tunnels under construction andin planning are expected to reduce patronage further. By 1996, the Star Ferry isprojected to carry more passengers than HYF will carry on its cross-harbour routes.8.6.8 Projected traffic on the HYF cross-harbour routes has been analysed by four groupsin thousands of passengers per day, as follows:Routes 1988 1996 GrowthWestern Harbour 47 53 13%Central Harbour 38 18 -53%Eastern Harbour 52 42 -19%Tuen Mun Route 5 12 140%Total cross-harbour 142 125 -12%Outlying Islands 43 52 21%Total 185 177 -4%8.6.9 The Western Harbour services link Central to the western side of the Kowloonpeninsula. They will face competition from buses using the planned WesternHarbour Crossing, although this would not be as severe as that presented by theEastern Harbour Crossing to the Eastern Harbour ferries. There is a projectedincrease in employment jobs in Central but declining population in Kowloon. As aresult the routes show only a small increase in patronage to 1 996.8.6.10 The patronage on the Central to Tuen Mun route is projected to double between1986 and 1996; this is linked to the increases in population projected for the NewTerritories. This would require the acquisition of additional high speed ferries.8.6.11 The Eastern Harbour ferries are expected to lose about 19% of the 1986 traffic by1996, due to the opening of the Eastern Harbour Crossing. The Central Harbourferries show a similar pattern to the Eastern Harbour group. The Wan Chai to HungHorn route is expected to lose traffic to the Tsim Sha Tsui to Wan Chai routeoperated by Star Ferry which is cheaper and more frequent.8.6.12 Traffic associated with the outlying islands is expected to grow as a result ofdevelopment on the islands, the general increase in trip-making with growingprosperity, and increases in recreational travel.8.7 Minibus Operations8.7.1 The total number of public light buses (PLBs) which operate public minibusservices has been held constant since 1976. Restrictions on the growth of theseservices arose from concerns over the efficiency of minibus operations in the maintransport corridors and their adverse impact on franchised bus operations.8.7.2 A policy was developed to encourage groups of operators to serve routes off themain transport corridors, by granting licences for specific routes. Consequently, twoclasses of minibus are now in operation: traditional PLBs distinguished by a redstripe along the side of the vehicle, and the other minibus services distinguished by agreen stripe and rool The two services are normally referred to as PLBs and GMBs(for Green Minibuses).163