KMB Helps Passengers to Recover Lost Property
In the past year, KMB handled over 24,000 lost property cases. Around 60% of KMB lost property items were returned to passengers. Among all the lost property items, KMB found HK$2.2 million in cash on buses and around 88% of the money was returned to the owners. In the past year, unclaimed cash and the revenue from the tender sales of unclaimed and overdue lost property items generated about $100,000, which, in line with the KMB Lost Property Handling Procedure, was donated to The Community Chest of Hong Kong.
In the past year, KMB handled an average of over 2,000 lost property cases each month (about 5,400 lost property items per month). The data in the past year shows that the item passengers most commonly leave behind on buses is their Octopus Cards, which accounts for around 12% of the total. This is followed by cash, at 9%, purses, at 8%, and then mobile phones and bank cards, at 7% and 6.4% respectively. Other lost property items include Hong Kong Identity Cards, student identity cards, bags, Home Visit Permits and keys, while bulky items include baby strollers, musical instruments, scanners and vacuum cleaners. Among the lost property cases that KMB has handled over the years, items as varied as walking sticks, figures of the Mercy Buddha, fishing rods, wigs, dental plates, uniforms, quilts and helmets have all been left behind on buses.
Mr. Yeung Kwok-ho, Assistant Manager (Operations) of KMB’s Tuen Mun Depot, said, “According to our statistics, the top ten most common lost property items to be recovered are similar to those recorded last year. Among the items, the number of bags found on buses increased by 63%. This may be due to the environmental levy on plastic shopping bags implemented in July last year, as more passengers now carried recycleable bags but sometimes left them on buses.”
In the past year, about 60% of KMB lost property items were recovered. Among the ten most common lost property items, both cash and Home Visit Permits have the highest recovery rate with around 88% of such items found on buses being returned to the owner. This is followed by Hong Kong Identity Cards, bank cards and student identity cards, above 80%. The recovery rate of purses exceeds 70%, while those of Octopus Cards, mobile phones and bags are above 60%. The recovery rate of keys is the lowest, below 50%, as most people may replace a new lock after losing a key. (See attached table)
Mr. Yeung added, “KMB bus captains will conduct a check of the bus after each trip. This will increase the chance of finding lost property for passengers. For example, Bus Captain Law Chi-ming of Route 268B found a bag containing $105,000 cash in Hong Kong dollars in November 2009 during a routine check of the bus. The bag-owner called KMB Customer Service Hotline, which helped him to locate his lost property and retrieve it from Hung Hom Ferry Bus Terminus. The most effective way to avoid lost property cases is to remind passengers to be more attentive to their personal belongings before getting off buses.”
If passengers realise that they have left their belongings on board, they can call KMB’s Customer Service Hotline 2745-4466. Since items found by bus captains or passengers will be retained and recorded by terminus supervisors, a passenger who has lost something should contact the terminus supervisor on the same day to recover the item. After verifying the details, the terminus supervisor will return the item to the passenger. In instances where nobody collects the lost item on the same day, all items, apart from perishable food or plant matter, which will be disposed of, will be sent to the lost property section of depots. If the item carries identification, the lost property section will try to contact the owner. If the owner cannot be traced, all documents of identification will be sent back to the issuing authorities, while other items will be kept for three months. If the items are still unclaimed after three months, the lost property section will contact the person who found the item so they may collect it, as laid down in the relevant Hong Kong Ordinance. If the finder of the lost property does not come to collect it, KMB will sell the unclaimed and overdue lost property items by tender and donate the revenue to The Community Chest of Hong Kong.
Ten Most Common Lost Property Items
Ranking | Percentage | Recovery Rate |
1. Octopus Cards (1) | 12% | 60% |
2. Hong Kong Dollars (2) | 9% | 88% |
3. Purses (3) | 8% | 76% |
4. Mobile Phones (4) | 7% | 68% |
5. Bank Cards (6) | 6.4% | 86% |
6. Hong Kong Identity Cards (5) | 5.8% | 86% |
7. Student Identity Cards (7) | 3.5% | 84% |
8. Bags (9) | 3% | 61% |
9. Home Visit Permits (8) | 2.4% | 88% |
10. Keys (11) | 2.3% | 48% |
* The rank of last year is marked in the bracket.
