Bus firms merger 'boosts frequency, flexibility'
Citybus said its merger with New World First Bus will provide better services for passengers. The merger will come into effect on Saturday under a new Citybus banner. The two companies are already subsidiaries of the same company, Bravo. Roger Ma, general manager (operations) of Citybus, spoke on Friday about the advantages of the move, such as allowing for more efficiency and flexibility in dealing with vehicle breakdowns now that they have additional resources.    "After the merger, we can make use of more resources. For example, if there is a spare Citybus in the terminus, (we) can make use of the Citybus to arrange for the departure so to minimise the impact of the traffic incident, and I think the passengers can benefit from it," he said. Ma also said the merger will help to streamline operations and increase service frequency. "Last year, we had a route development plan for two routes, which is running in a similar area, so we merge those two routes into one, and we enhanced the frequency so the passengers can enjoy a better frequency from that. We found that the overall patronage increased significantly," he said.  Ma also said that a new logo will be used, and paintwork remodelling for buses and terminals are still in the works.  He hopes that work to remodel bus stops will be completed by the end of July.