Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said on Wednesday that he believes the additional costs incurred in Hong Kong's planned transition to electric buses will not be passed on to passengers.

Under its Green Transformation Roadmap of Public Buses and Taxis, the government plans to subsidise the purchase of 600 electric buses and 3,000 electric taxis.

The aim is for the SAR to achieve carbon neutrality, with all franchised buses and taxis to be zero emission vehicles by 2050.

On an RTHK radio programme, Tse said the subsidy is sufficient to cover the extra costs that will be incurred by bus companies.

"In the past, electric double decker buses were much more expensive than regular ones, double the price of a normal bus. Regular buses cost about two million dollars, and electric ones cost four to five million dollars each. As technology advances, in recent months we have seen the price has reduced drastically. But they still cost millions of dollars each," he said.

"Therefore, the government will offer subsidies that cover the additional costs that are incurred from changing to electric buses. In that way, companies won't have to pass the additional costs incurred on to passengers."

The government also plans to offer 500 more high-speed charging stations for taxis by the end of 2027.

Tse said the government will encourage petrol stations to build charging spots and offer discounts to taxis.

Speaking on the same programme, Wong Yu-ting, chairman of the Hong Kong Tele-call Taxi Association, questioned whether the government will be able to achieve all these goals.

Wong said he made an application to install charging spots in Tsing Yi around a year ago, but this has yet to be approved.

"You said more charging stations will be available by the end of 2027, it's so vague. Shouldn't you talk about your goal for each year? It would be better. Or you can say by which month a certain number of charging spots will be available. In this way, it's more concrete," he said.

Ryan Ip, vice president of the Our Hong Kong Foundation, said he welcomes the government's plans.

He said the government should provide more high-speed charging spots, to benefit both the transport industry and the public.

Ip said the government should also consider promoting the use of hydrogen vehicles.

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Correction: an earlier version of this story misstated the cost of buses. RTHK English News apologises for the mistake.