Lantau bus drivers are to get shorter shifts and longer breaks in the wake of the Tai Po bus disaster – but it may take more than a year.

Under new Transport Department guidelines, the maximum length of a driving shift has been reduced from 11 to 10 hours and rest breaks have been increased from 30 to 40 minutes.

Additionally, the maximum time on shift, including driving time and breaks, must be cut from 14 to 12 hours, drivers are to be allowed at least 22 hours in off-duty breaks every three successive shifts.

Nineteen people died and 65 were injured in the February 10 crash, in which a KMB bus overturned on Tai Po Road.

In a statement issued February 23, the New Lantao Bus Co “expressed its support and active cooperation” with the new rules.

“We will communicate with the bus captains as soon as possible and discuss the timing and details of the implementation of the new guidelines.”

The company said it would “endeavor to maintain existing services” while implementing the new rules.

It has plenty of time to do so, however. The new rules, which apply to all franchiced bus operators, do not have to be introduced until the second quarter of 2019.

But the reduction in driver shift times adds further financial pressure on NLB, a subsidiary of listed company Kwoon Chung Bus Holdings.

The Transport Department told it to cut costs after a “not satisfactory” first-half financial result three months ago. The new rules now introduce a further layer of costs.

Starting today, New Lantao Bus (NLB) is trialing a service that allows passengers to find out the likely arrival time of their bus.

Available through the NLB mobile app, it applies to routes 1R、11、23、34、36、37、37H、37M and 38.

The company does not say when it will extend the service to other routes.

To use the service, first download the app (above left) from the Apple Store or Google Play, then go to the main page and select the route and direction.

On the next page, select the bus stop and it will automatically show the estimated arrival times of the next three buses on that route (above right)).

It may surprise Lantau commuters struggling to get a ride, but New Lantao Bus (NLB) has just posted a loss.

Even more counter-intuitive, it warned earlier this year that it would “rationalise” some of its loss-making South Lantau services.

That it has not done so may be because of a recent piece of good news: it successfully tendered for two new routes between Tung Chung and the HK-Macau bridge.

Kwoon Chung Bus Holdings, NLB’s parent, has just reported a HK$3.6 million loss in its Lantau operations for the first six months, despite an 8% rise in revenue to HK$85.5 million.

In the same period last year NLB, Lantau’s sole bus operator, achieved sales of HK$78.9 million, yielding a profit of HK$2.8 million.

Kwoon Chung attributed the result to a “significant rise in operating costs, including but not limited to fuel, wages, insurance and repair and maintenance.”

The company doesn’t break down the results further.

But it says this year, as in previous years, NLB’s most profitable segments are the Tung Chung routes, such as the Yat Tung shuttle, and its services to Tin Shui Wai, Yuen Long and Shenzhen Bay.

The 2016-17 annual report said these were “still profitable” but:

A large majority of other bus routes are at losses or just break even. In order to maintain its service standards, NLB shall work closely with the Transport Department and the local community to rationalise some of these loss making routes.

Since that was issued in July the company has not cut any services, and Kwoon Chung says the newly-awarded routes to the HZM Bridge would bring “stable and reasonable profits.”

Perhaps the warning was a genuine heads-up to shareholder, or perhaps it was a not-so subtle signal to transport officials.

Lantau News has sought responses from NLB and the Transport Department.

NLB, which runs 124 buses on 23 routes, is a small part of the Kwoon Chung group.

The parent company recorded a 47% slide in profit for the period. Total revenue was $1.16 billion.