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Following is a question by the Hon Kam Nai-wai and an oral reply by the Acting Secretary for the Environment, Dr Kitty Poon, in the Legislative Council today (November 12):
Question:
In its reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council in April this year, the Government said that it would study the designation of "low emission zones" which would deny access to pre-Euro and Euro I buses so as to improve roadside air quality within the zones. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the commencement date of the aforesaid study, its latest progress and projected completion date, and whether it will make reference to the arrangements and experience of other places in the designation of "low emission zones";
(b) given that the Government has said that the designation of "low emission zones" may shift the roadside air pollution problem to other areas, whether franchised buses will be included in the current incentive scheme for encouraging owners to replace their old-model diesel commercial vehicles; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) of the respective numbers of new buses to be purchased and old buses to be scrapped by franchised bus companies in the next three years; whether it will request franchised bus companies to expedite the pace of replacing old buses, so as to complement the implementation of the "low emission zones" scheme?
Reply:
President,
(a) The Government has commenced a study to look into the feasibility of setting up ˇ§low emission zonesˇ¨. The study aims to explore whether a pilot ˇ§low emission zoneˇ¨ can be set up at one or more busy corridors to restrict franchised buses with higher exhaust emissions from entering the zone(s), so as to evaluate the effectiveness of the zone(s) in improving roadside air quality. In considering the setting up of pilot ˇ§low emission zonesˇ¨, we will also study possible ways to ensure that the franchised bus companies will provide effective services to passengers in various districts, and that the road traffic in different districts will not be affected. In addition, we will examine how to minimise or avoid any negative impact it may have on roadside air quality in other areas. We expect to complete the relevant study in 2009.
We will take account of overseas experiences and local situations in taking forward the study.
(b) The Government has no plan to extend the subsidy scheme for replacing old diesel commercial vehicles to the franchised buses. However, we will continue to require the franchised bus companies to replace their older buses according to operational needs and, after balancing different requirements, deploy more environment-friendly buses to busy corridors as far as possible.
(c) The Transport Department is now discussing the Five Year Forward Planning Programmes (which include plans and proposals regarding the retirement of older buses and purchase of new ones) with the franchised bus companies, and adjustments may be made to the Programmes. We therefore cannot provide the number of buses that will be replaced at this stage. The study on setting up ˇ§low emission zonesˇ¨ will consider in detail the relevant factors, including the number of buses in the existing fleet, the distribution of vehicle models, the bus replacement schedule and other operational needs of each franchised bus company, in order to explore the feasibility of different options.
Ends/Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Issued at HKT 15:43
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