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Is $119.90 or $120???????????

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  1. #21

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    I'm not being weak and escaping mannnn. If it bothered me that much, I would rise and change. It just doesn't bother me. I don't want to expend all that energy and effort. I got better things to do with my time (which of course is not evident from obviously taking the time to read through this post and reply!)...I don't live in HK (at the moment) and I guess it would bug me about the bus thing (but my original comment was directed toward the OPS post and not the bus charges). I agree a system like bdw describes sounds well designed indeed.

    PS: well we both aren't bankers but work in IT in some financial services company apparently ;-)
    PPS: your taxes in blood comment made me laugh, just finished second season of Game of Thrones!


  2. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by amrit.bharadwaj:
    Ignorance is being weak and escapist my friend, rise and change, this is 21st Century not 18th where you pay your taxes from your blood.

    PS: Banker but IT not Trading.

    So IT, not banker.

    Ignorance is being weak

  3. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by amrit.bharadwaj:
    That's exactly what I am talking about. This will be good for Hong Kong too.
    No it will just be different, not necessarily better. Think about it. There are many buses running through Causeway Bay - > Admiralty -> Central etc and then off to the boonies and if everyone getting on them only had to pay a tiny amount because the distance involved, then the buses would be packed and those going the whole way would be disadvantaged. Similarly, there is a "fixed cost" for the existence of a bus - just because one only uses it for one stop, does not mean that your "share" of the cost should be proportional - there should be some recognition that everyone shares equally in the fixed cost of the bus service existing. Also, if fares were changed so that you paid for short journeys, the bus service would have less money than now - since their contract is based on total revenue, they would just have to raise all the fares in order to recoup the losses......

    Not saying either way is "better" or "worse" but any change would result in winners and losers and probably many other unintended consequences. Just saying "they should do X" is rarely that simple.

  4. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by amrit.bharadwaj:
    That's exactly what I am talking about. This will be good for Hong Kong too.
    Nope - it wouldn't make any difference overall - bus fares are basically set by reference to the profits of the bus companies (in other words the fares are adjusted so that the profit of the bus company meets a pre-determined value). If, all other things being equal, the fare for some journeys goes down then the fare for other journeys would have to go up to compensate for it.

    What you are proposing might slightly redistribute who pays what fare between passengers, but it wouldn't make any difference to the total revenue received by the bus company.

    The system on some minibuses works because with 16 passengers the driver can verify that people get off at the point they pay for. That obviously doesn't work for big buses.

  5. #25

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    People Centric v/s Bus Owner Centric...you decide what you want vs what is fair? I believe Bus Companies have made much profit already by this flawed system of charging. Big Bus / Small its about the right designated fare.

    Someone said "then the buses would be packed and those going the whole way would be disadvantage"

    I think packed Buses are more revenue for the Owner right? How is it a disadvantage? Higher Revenue is low cost of running the bus, people will adjust the time of travel and eventually there will be more buses running the same route to cater to people. Its a self sustaining system.

    Why is MTR not having such issues, because the fares are fair and transparent.


  6. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by amrit.bharadwaj:
    People Centric v/s Bus Owner Centric...you decide what you want vs what is fair? I believe Bus Companies have made much profit already by this flawed system of charging.
    Then you believe wrong. As I stated above, but it clearly failed to register with you, the bus companies profits are essentially fixed; fiddling around with the fare structure won't change them. What you are suggesting would make no difference at all to the bus owner, it would make no difference at all to the total amount of fares paid by the public, and it would make the daily commute much less convenient (there's enough bus congestion on, for example, Hennessy Road, in the rush hours without every bus having to be stationary for an extra 2 minutes as passengers reswipe their Octopuses on the way off).
    Last edited by Gruntfuttock; 22-10-2012 at 06:24 PM.

  7. #27

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    Original Post Deleted
    Good point. Which reminds me...On past form I'm sure the HK government isn't very concerned with the rights or interests of lowly consumers, but if these shops are routinely pocketing these small amounts without accounting for them properly, they may also be improperly accounting for them with respect to taxes--a subject much closer to the heart of HK government (assuming I can attribute such a human feature to a governmental entity, that is!)
    reprazent likes this.

  8. #28

    It is cheating!!!!!! If do not want any coins then put full amount. It is not about the money. It is cheating!!!! Big departmental do not do this. They charge you according to the price tag. That why I do not like to shop on small shop i prefer big departmental store.


  9. #29

    Imagine one person extra $1 then how much they can get for a month??????? U can imagine that.......


  10. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by LingLing_733:
    Imagine one person extra $1 then how much they can get for a month??????? U can imagine that.......
    More importantly, can the Inland Revenue imagine that? I bet they can (but it's probably too difficult to prove, unless part of a wider crack-down). Still, if there were a "hotline" to report tax fiddling, might be worth dropping a dime...