The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the performance of pub
lic transport operations is negatively influenced by land-use, socio-e
conomic and urban transportation development planning in Dong Kong, Th
e failure of new town planning, undemocratic infrastructure planning,
and the actively non-intervening policies of monopolized public transp
ort services have influenced public transport operations to not provid
e mobility to the poor, The first part will review concepts of evaluat
ion in public transport performance, quality of life, mobility and the
political influences on public transport policy-making, The latter pa
rt will critically investigate some recent land-use, infrastructure an
d public transport planning that have led to mobility deprivation of t
he urban poor in Dong Kong, The paper argues that the urban planning p
olicy of Dong Kong has long ignored the mobility needs of the poor, De
mocratic and open urban transportation planning is suggested in order
to enhance the mobility of the urban low-income people. (C) 1997 Elsev
ier Science Ltd.