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Members of the Transport Advisory Committee (TAC) were briefed today (April 1) on the Major Findings and Recommendations of the Traffic Study for Mid-Levels Area and the Government's proposed way forward for the Mid-Levels Moratorium.
"We note that the Administration has completed a traffic study for the Mid-levels area to assess the effectiveness of the moratorium and the Administration proposes to retain the moratorium for the time being with a view to containing traffic growth," TAC chairman, Ms Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah, said.
Subject to the realisation of the forecast traffic improvements in Mid-Levels arising from the commissioning of the West Island Line and the implementation of other traffic control and improvement measures as recommended by the study, the Administration will give due consideration to the lifting of the moratorium.
The Government will monitor closely the traffic conditions upon opening of the West Island Line and implementation of other improvement schemes.
The TAC also discussed the preliminary options on grouping of private driving instructors' (PDI) licences proposed by the Administration for further consultation with the trade. They include maintaining the status quo (i.e. to maintain the benchmark for the three groups of PDIs), replacing the benchmark for individual PDI groups with an overall benchmark for all PDIs or lifting the benchmark for all PDI groups.
"We note that any change to the grouping of PDIs may have an impact on the structure of the trade, the livelihood of individual PDIs and the traffic conditions, etc. We support the Administration to consult the PDI trade before deciding on the way forward," Ms Cheng said.
Ends/Thursday, April 1, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:36
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