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Following is a question by Alice Mak and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (October 23):
Question:
Quite a number of residents in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long have relayed to me that the entry and exit processors of the Light Rail (LR) have all along been equipped with small black-and-white screens only, making it difficult for the passengers to read clearly the information thereon. Moreover, during peak hours or when the stops are crowded, passengers often cannot be sure whether the entry processors have sounded a confirmation tone after they have held their Octopus cards against the entry processors when entering the stops due to the noisy environment, resulting in non-payment of fares unknowingly. Upon ticket inspection by staff of the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), these passengers are subject to the payment of a surcharge of $290 for failing to produce a valid ticket. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows, in each of the past three years, (i) the number of LR passengers who were required to pay surcharges, (ii) the number of those who were required to pay such surcharges more than once within one year, (iii) the number of passengers who lodged appeals with MTRCL to request for the exercise of discretion in the handling of their cases and, among them, (iv) the number of those who were exempted from the payment of such surcharges;
(b) whether it knows, in each of the past three years, the fare evasion rate of LR, and the number of passengers who were prosecuted for refusing to pay the surcharges;
(c) whether it knows if MTRCL has plans to improve the fare system for LR (e.g. installing on the platforms entry and exit processors with larger screens to facilitate the elderly, as well as developing a mobile application which can be used for fare payment); if MTRCL has such plans, of the implementation timetable and details; if not, the reasons for that;
(d) whether it knows if MTRCL will consider improving the relevant facilities in LR stops (e.g. installing closed-circuit television systems on the platforms or near the entry processors) for the purpose of ascertaining if the passengers allegedly evaded fare have failed to pay their fares unknowingly; and
(e) given that some people in the community have pointed out that, over the years, the open fare system for LR has caused passengers to easily forget to pay their fares and incur surcharges as a result, hence exerting psychological pressure on passengers, whether the authorities and MTRCL will review afresh the design of the open fare system?
Reply:
President,
At present, the Light Rail system is the major mode of transport in the North-west New Territories, providing a convenient and reliable transport service for the residents of Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai. In 2012, Light Rail carried a total of 167 million passengers.
Light Rail adopts an open fare system which is well suited to the geographical environment of stops along its alignment. Due to geographical constraints within the districts, most Light Rail platforms are around three to five metres wide and 40 metres long, resulting in the difficulty in installing entry/exit gates. The open fare system design brings convenience to the boarding and alighting of passengers and accelerates passenger flow.
My reply to various parts of the Hon Alice Mak Mei-kuen's question is as follows:
(a) and (b) In the past three years, the total number of cases of passengers with Octopus cards inspected on the Light Rail system amounted to 1.54 million per year on average. Among them, around 5 700 Light Rail passengers failed to show a valid ticket (Octopus card without an entry record) and were required by MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) to pay a surcharge. This information, together with the number of passengers who filed an appeal to MTRCL for discretion in handling their cases, the number of passengers with surcharge waived by MTRCL, and the number of passengers who refused to pay surcharge and were thus prosecuted, etc. in the past three years are at Annex.
(c) and (d) The Light Rail Octopus Fare Processor (Processor) is equipped with three different indicators (i.e. a light signal, a text display and a sound signal) that simultaneously prompt passengers. If the Octopus card is successfully validated, the entry Processor will produce a "beep" sound, a green light will be shown and a message "Permit to Travel" will be displayed on the screen. If the validation is unsuccessful, a longer and higher frequency "beep" sound will be produced with a red light on and a message "Present Card Again" or "Negative Value, please add value or buy a Ticket" will be displayed on the screen. This is to indicate that the Octopus card is not successfully validated. Before boarding the Light Rail vehicle, passengers should be able to tell whether his/her Octopus card has been successfully validated by referring to any one of the above three indictors on the Processor.
In fact, MTRCL has all along carried out a wide range of promotional activities to remind passengers to hold a valid ticket or validate their Octopus cards before boarding a Light Rail vehicle. Passengers are also reminded to pay attention to the indicators on the Processor. Publicity including posting of notices and banners at platforms, announcements at platforms and in the compartments, posting of reminding labels on the Processors and through distribution of promotional leaflets, reminds passengers on how to use the Light Rail service, to validate their Octopus cards when boarding and alighting from the Light Rail vehicle, etc.
Moreover, passengers can now, while waiting for the Light Rail vehicle at the stop, check their entry and exit information immediately after validating their Octopus cards at the Light Rail system through a free Android smartphone application developed by the Octopus Cards Limited, called "Octocheck". If found not yet validated through the smartphone application, passengers can immediately validate their Octopus cards at the Processor.
MTRCL has a robust regime for maintenance and regularly inspects the conditions of the Processors at Light Rail stops. It also listens to passengers' feedback. When needed, MTRCL will replace the spare parts of the Processors to ensure their normal operation.
It has been more than 25 years since the Light Rail commenced service in 1988. Most passengers are already accustomed to the operation mode of the open fare system. MTRCL opines that the current arrangement can cater to passengers' needs.
(e) In June 2005, before the rail merger, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC), then operating Light Rail, reviewed the Light Rail open fare system as requested by the Subcommittee on Matters Relating to Railways under the Panel on Transport of the Legislative Council (Subcommittee). Results show that the design of an open fare system involves less land. As the platforms link directly to pedestrian access or shopping malls, passengers therefore travel on Light Rail more conveniently without passing through the entry/exit gates. The system can also be extended to other areas as its platforms involve less land, which is also more cost-effective in operation. Given the existing geographical constraints, rebuilding the system would be very difficult. Balancing all the factors, it was considered not suitable to change the existing open fare system design of Light Rail. KCRC reported the study results on the open fare system of Light Rail to the Subcommittee in August 2005 (Ref: CB(1)2222/04-05(01)).
After reviewing the above considerations and conclusions, MTRCL still considers them applicable nowadays. In fact, the open fare system is widely adopted in many light rail systems in developed countries around the world. Examples include the United States (Los Angeles, Minneapolis of the State of Minnesota), the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (London, Dockland, Sheffield, Croydon), Canada (Toronto), Australia (Melbourne), Germany (Frankfurt, Munich), Hungary, Czech Republic, Austria and Belgium.
Ends/Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:00
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