Company: The Kowloon Motor Bus Co. (1933) Ltd.
Company Description: The Kowloon Motor Bus Co (1933) Ltd is the largest privately owned, public bus company in the world. KMB’s 4,047 double-deck buses comprise the largest environment-friendly fleet in Hong Kong. KMB operates 402 bus routes, tenders 2.8 million passenger trips daily and is ISO certified. KMB won Champion of the 2007 Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Award: Passenger Transport Excellence.
Nomination Category: Customer Service Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Customer Service Department/Organization

Nomination Title: The Kowloon Motor Bus Co. (1933) Ltd.

   1. Tell the story about what this nominated organization/department achieved (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

          KMB's service philosophy is founded on safety, reliability, convenience and
          comfort, backed by a strong commitment to innovative and sustainable business
          practices.  As the company marks the milestone of its 75th anniversary, it
          does so in a marketplace that has become increasingly competitive.  With
          government policy favouring railways, and facing soaring fuel prices, KMB has
          embraced innovation and distinctive customer service as a means to grow its
          customer base going forward. 

          As a world-renowned trendsetter in the public bus sector, KMB has taken the
          lead by developing and introducing new technologies and facilities to Hong
          Kong.  These include: 

          - Successive new generation Euro buses, the latest being Euro IV E-
          Friendly double-deck buses in 2007.
          - Super-low-floor buses for wheelchair users and elderly passengers.
          - Bus stop announcement system in three languages, and LED display
          panels to aid visually and hearing impaired passengers.
          - Digital Map Passenger Enquiry System.
          - Cyber bus stop (patent owned by KMB). 
          - Multimedia on board service.
          - Air-conditioned passenger waiting lounge.
          - Solar powered waiting shelter.
          - Unit Overhaul Centre listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

          The company's communication channels include a Customer Service Hotline, eight
          conveniently located Customer Service Centres, FRIENDS OF KMB volunteer club,
          passenger liaison group meetings, passenger opinion cabin and a user-friendly
          website www.kmb.hk that averaged 5.3 million daily hits in 2007.

          The KMB Customer Service Hotline operates 24/7 and handles as many as 500,000
          calls per month.  The Hotline's IT infrastructure includes Hong Kong's first,
          state-of-the-art Digital Map Passenger Enquiry System (PEQ) and a fully
          automated Customer Feedback Management System (CMS).  In 2007, the Hotline
          received international recognition in winning two Gold awards – Best Contact
          Centre and Best Technology Innovation in the World Award organised by
          ContactCenterWorld.com, and the Customer Service Excellence Award by the Hong
          Kong Association for Customer Service Excellence.

          The Digital Map PEQ system deploys geographic information system (GIS)
          technology to perform bus route searches according to passenger preferences,
          such as fare, distance and frequency.  The system is equipped with 3-D images
          of major buildings and stores images of over 100,000 landmarks to aid
          operators in describing the physical surroundings to customers.  Since the
          launch of the digital map PEQ, the number of calls handled by operators has
          increased by 50%, and commendations increased by 100% in 2007. 

          The CMS is an automated system that receives real-time customer feedback, thus
          enabling management to constantly monitor bus services and make timely service
          adjustments.  Data stored in CMS is analysed for management purposes, such as
          identifying service improvement opportunities and tracking trends.

          Although bus fares have remained at the same level since 1997, KMB offers an
          Octopus smart card Bus-Bus Interchange fare discount programme that covers
          some 5,000 route combinations.

          As a socially responsible corporate citizen that has grown hand in hand with
          Hong Kong, KMB will continue to contribute to the region's economic growth by
          providing world class bus services to residents and visitors of the city the
          company is proud to call home.

   2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

          I. About KMB
          1.Annual Report
          http://www.irasia.com/listco/hk/transport/annual/index.htm

          2. Bus kingdom
          http://www.kmb.hk/english.php?page=profile&file=kingdom/index.html

          3.Innovative Technology
          http://www.kmb.hk/english.php?page=profile&file=tech/index.html

          4.The Award Gateway of KMB
          http://www.kmb.hk/english.php?page=profile&file=challenges/index.html

          II. KMB firsts
          5.KMB Announces Environmental Achievements of Bus Fleet in 2007
          http://www.kmb.hk/english.php?page=next&file=news/service/news1q08/news2008012101.html

          6.KMB Full Air-Conditioned Fleet Equipped with Ambient Sensors
          http://www.kmb.hk/english.php?page=next&file=news/service/news1q08/news2008032601.html

          7.KMB Euro IV E-friendly Bus – Leading the way to blue skies and a greener
          environment
          http://www.kmb.hk/english.php?page=next&file=news/service/news1q07/news2007021601.html

          8.KMB Easy Access Bus
          http://www.kmb.hk/english.php?page=service&file=easy/index.html

          9.ArcNews - Kowloon Motor Bus Company, Hong Kong, Powers Hotline with GIS
          http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/spring04articles/kowloon-motor-bus.html

          10.Directions Magazine - GIS Provides Customer Satisfaction for Hong Kong Bus
          Company
          http://www.directionsmag.com/article.php?article_id=716&trv=1

          11.KMB Full Fleet Equipped with Posilock Fuel Filling System
          http://www.kmb.hk/english.php?page=next&file=news/service/news2q07/news2007080201.html

          12.KMB Introduces the State-of-the-art Driving Simulator Studio
          http://www.kmb.hk/english.php?page=next&file=news/service/news1q08/news2008011601.html  

          13.KMB’s Electronic Terminus Management System Contributes to a Greener
          Environment
          http://www.kmb.hk/english.php?page=next&file=news/service/news3q07/news2007101802.html

          III. KMB communication channels and publications
          14.Hong Kong Trade Development Council - KMB Digital Map Passenger Enquiry
          System – Quality customer services
          http://ict.hktdc.com/suc-e514.htm

          15.Customer Service Hotline
          http://www.kmb.hk/english.php?page=kmbhot

          16.Customer Service Centre
          http://www.kmb.hk/english.php?page=customer

          17.KMB Publications – Corporate Social Responsibility and Service Charter
          http://www.kmb.hk/english.php?page=profile&file=corp.html

          IV. Awards
          18.The Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport Newsletter
          CILT Award 2007- Passenger Transport Excellence
          http://www.cilt.org.hk/webadmin/img/news/101_1.pdf

          19.KMB Today Magazine - Hotline awards (Chinese version)
          http://www.kmb.hk/chi/next/images/today0108/p22.pdf

          http://www.kmb.hk/chi/next/images/today0308/p13-14.pdf

          20.Transport International Included as a component company of Dow Jones
          Sustainability Index
          http://www.kmb.hk/english.php?page=next&file=news/service/news3q06/news2006110201.html

          21.Hong Kong Computer Society IT Excellence Awards – Digital Map PEQ System
          http://www.hkcs.org.hk/itawards/year2002/eng/winners1_app2.html

          22.Best Practices in Customer Relationship Management – KMB FRIENDS OF KMB
          Club http://www.bestpractice.com.hk/special7.htm

          23.The Heart of Gold Awards – The Kowloon Motor Bus Co. (1933) Ltd.
          http://www.betterhongkong.org/eng/?section=activities&page=pastactivitiesdetail&pastActivities_id=36

   3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of this nominated organization/department:

          Ms Winnie Ng, KMB Executive Director

          Ms Ng is a board member of KMB's holding company, Transport International
          Holdings Limited and founder and Vice-chairman of RoadShow Holdings Limited, a
          subsidiary of TIH.  Ms Ng won the Yazhou Zhoukan Young Chinese Entrepreneur
          Award and was named one of China's outstanding Women Entrepreneurs.  Ms Ng has
          been conferred as Mason Fellow by Harvard University.  Active in public
          service, Ms Ng is a Director of Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre, Director
          of HK Cyberport, Board Member of Agency for Volunteer Service and Vice
          Chairman of Council of China's Foreign Trade, China Council for the promotion
          of International Trade.