Tobacco Control Legislation

Public Transport Facilities

Section 3(1AB) of Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance (Cap. 371) empowers the Director of Health to, by notice published in Gazette, designate as a no smoking area (NSA) the whole or a part of -

  1. any area that consists of the termini of 2 or more modes of public transport and is used for effecting and facilitating interchange between them; or

  2. any bus terminus of more than one specified route as defined in section 2 of the Public Bus Services Ordinance (Cap.230).

No person may do a smoking act in designated NSAs, or else will be liable to a fixed penalty of $1,500.

Since 1 January 2007, all indoor public transport interchanges were designated as NSAs. Since 1 September 2009, the Government has also designated NSAs in public transport facilities (PTFs) by phases for those areas identified as fulfilling the criteria as set out in section 3(1AB) of Cap. 371. There are currently 260 PTFs designated as NSAs.

At present, there are 3 types of PTFs with the designation of NSAs

Indoor public transport interchanges
Public transport facilities with superstructures
Open-air public transport facilities

Please refer to the Smoking (Public Health) (Designation of No Smoking Areas) Notice (Cap. 371D) for details of designated NSAs in PTFs. The full text of the Notice can be accessed at the Bilingual Law Information System of the Department of Justice.( www.legislation.gov.hk )