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Following is a question by the Hon Christopher Chung Shu-kun and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (May 22):
Question:
Regarding the provision of escalators and lifts at footbridges for public use, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of footbridges in Hong Kong which were constructed by the Government and developers, with a breakdown of those which are provided with escalators and lifts (set out in Annex 1);
(b) of the respective criteria based on which the Government decides, when planning to construct footbridges, (i) whether or not to install escalator(s), and (ii) whether one or two escalators (i.e. two-way) will be installed;
(c) whether the authorities have short and long term plans to retrofit escalators at those footbridges currently provided with no or only one escalator, for the convenience of footbridge users; if they have such plans, of the details and the number of escalators to be retrofitted;
(d) whether, at present when incorporating the clauses in the land leases of private developments for requiring the developers to build footbridges, the Government has specified that such footbridges must be provided with escalators; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(e) given that some members of the public have relayed to me that certain pairs of escalators installed at the same locations of the footbridges operate in the same direction, causing inconvenience to users travelling in the opposite direction and wastage of electricity, which government departments are currently responsible for managing the escalators installed at footbridges, and whether the duties of the officers concerned include ensuring that the aforesaid situation will not occur; and
(f) whether the authorities have drawn up a timetable for retrofitting lifts at those footbridges in Hong Kong which have not yet been provided with lifts for the convenience of the elderly, persons with disabilities and other people in need when using footbridges; if they have, of the details and the timetable; if not, whether such a timetable will be drawn up?
Reply:
President,
Currently, most footbridges open for public use are constructed by the Government and maintained by the Highways Department (HyD). There are also some footbridges located outside public road areas (such as public housing estates and hospitals), while some are constructed by private developers under land grant provisions and open for public use. My reply to the six parts of the question asked by the Hon Christopher Chung is as follows:
(a) The number of footbridges in Hong Kong constructed by the Government as well as developers and maintained by the Government and a breakdown of those provided with escalators and lifts are set out in Annex 2.
The Lands Department (LandsD) does not have comprehensive information on the number of footbridges that are built by developers and the escalators and lifts retrofitted to these footbridges. The data available in LandsD now is that of the footbridges constructed in 1980 or beyond of which the construction is required by the land leases of private developments to provide various facilities/open space for the public. Such data has been uploaded onto the LandsD's website (www.landsd.gov.hk) for public inspection.
(b) When planning the construction of new footbridges, the Administration will, in accordance with the actual environment and need, consider the provision of suitable linkages such as stairs, ramps, lifts or escalators. On whether or not to install escalators and the number of which to be installed, factors taken into account include the estimated utilisation of the footbridge concerned and if such installation will promote the use of the footbridge and reduce non-compliance of traffic rules by road-crossing pedestrians. Other environmental considerations are land space, availability of similar facilities in connecting buildings, technical feasibility, etc.
(c) According to the Transport Planning and Design Manual (TPDM) published by the Transport Department (TD), given sufficient space, compatibility of the surrounding and confirmed technical feasibility, installation of up-and-down escalators at proposed footbridges in developed and development areas could be considered when either one of the following criteria is fulfilled:
- the footbridge, when both stairs and ramps/lifts are provided in the design, has an estimated pedestrian flow of at least 3 000 per hour in both directions; or
- the footbridge, when stairs alone are provided in the design, has an average estimated two-way pedestrian flow of at least 1 500 per hour in both directions during three-hour period.
The Administration has no plan for the time being to retrofit all existing footbridges in Hong Kong with escalators. However, the Administration will examine the utlilisation of existing footbridges that are not yet provided with escalators or retrofitted only with one-way escalators whenever necessary. If the above criteria are met, the installation of escalators will be considered.
(d) When vetting land leases of private developments, the Administration will, taking into account the development need as appropriate, request the developers to install pedestrian accesses and facilities (including escalators) and open them for public use. When installing such pedestrian accesses and facilities (including footbridges), the developers have to comply with the requirements under the TPDM published by the TD, including the provision of escalators as necessary.
(e) For public footbridges constructed by the Government and maintained by the HyD, the daily operation and maintenance of the associated lifts and escalator facilities are taken up by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department. The travelling direction of the escalators depends basically on the major direction of pedestrian flow. The Administration will from time to time review the utilisation of footbridge escalators to ensure proper utilisation. Should there be comments, members of the public could present their views on the travelling direction of individual escalators to the HyD for follow-up.
(f) The Administration announced a new "Universal Accessibility" policy in August 2012. The policy aims at retrofitting existing public walkways (i.e. footbridges, elevated walkways and pedestrian subways maintained by the HyD) with barrier-free facilities (such as lifts) to facilitate access of the public. The HyD has just consulted the 18 District Councils on proposals suggested by the public under the new policy (involving about 250 public walkways) on the priority for implementation, and is taking forward preliminary feasibility studies for the three selected prioritised projects for each district. For projects preliminarily confirmed to be technically feasible, detailed design and construction works will be arranged by the HyD as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, we will continue to implement the retrofitting programme planned earlier (i.e. about 170 projects for retrofitting existing public pedestrian accesses with barrier-free facilities as proposed by the Equal Opportunities Commission), and aim at completing the majority of the projects by 2016-17.
Ends/Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Issued at HKT 16:50
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