*********************************************************
Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, in the Legislative Council today (June 24):
Question:
Under the existing legislation, private cars aged six years or more (calculated from the year of manufacture) and goods vehicles aged one year or more have to undergo and pass an annual vehicle examination at any one of the 22 car testing centres designated by the Transport Department (annual examination) before the licences of such vehicles may be renewed. Moreover, since September 2014, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has deployed roadside remote sensing equipment to screen petrol and liquefied petroleum gas vehicles with excessive emissions (roadside remote emission screening). Owners of vehicles found to have excessive emissions will be issued an emission testing notice by the EPD, demanding them to send their vehicles to one of the four designated vehicle emission testing centres in the territory within 12 working days for a dynamometer-based emission test (emission test) so as to ensure the problem is rectified, or else the vehicle licences will be cancelled. It is learnt that the current waiting times for vehicles to undergo the annual examination and emission tests are as long as two to three months. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective current average daily numbers of vehicles (i) undergoing the emission test and (ii) waiting for undergoing this test, with a breakdown by vehicle class;
(2) of the average monthly number of vehicles in respect of which the EPD issued emission testing notices since the launch of the roadside remote emission screening, with a breakdown by vehicle class;
(3) whether it knows the respective average numbers of incidents of equipment breakdown in the two types of testing centres in each of the past three years, as well as the details of such incidents;
(4) whether it has plans to implement measures for encouraging the two types of testing centres to extend their service hours so as to shorten the waiting times; if it has such plans, of the details;
(5) whether it has plans to allocate lands for the provision of additional testing centres of the two types; if it has such plans, of the details; and
(6) given that with effect from the 9th of this month, members of the public can check online the appointment status of the aforesaid 22 designated car testing centres, and after viewing the appointment status, they can directly call the centres with time slots available for booking to make appointments for the annual examination, of the current daily utilisation rate of this online platform; of the average waiting time for the annual examination in this month?
Reply:
President,
At present, the Transport Department (TD) requires private cars aged six years or more and light goods vehicles aged one year or more not exceeding 1.9 tonnes to pass examinations at the TD's "Designated Car Testing Centres (DCTC)" before their owners apply for renewal of vehicle licence. Such requirements can ascertain the roadworthiness of a vehicle for ensuring road safety.
In addition, to improve roadside air quality, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has strengthened the emission control of petrol and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vehicles since September 2014. If a vehicle is found to have excessive emission by roadside remote sensing equipment, the EPD will issue an Emission Testing Notice to the vehicle owner concerned. The owner must have the vehicle tested and passed an advanced emission test conducted with the aid of a chassis dynamometer (emission test) at an EPD "Designated Vehicle Emission Testing Centre (DVETC)". If the vehicle fails the emission test, the EPD will inform the TD to cancel its licence.
The above two types of testing centres are privately-run.
Our replies to the questions raised by Hon Chan Hak-kan are as follows:
(1) From September 2014 to April 2015, the DVETC carried out emission tests for a total of 3 620 vehicle counts. The statistics breakdown by vehicle class is shown as below:
Vehicle Class Light Goods Private Car Light Bus Taxi
Vehicle
------------- ----------- ----------- --------- ----
No. of vehicle 25 1 336 230 2 029
counts tested
During the above period, a daily average of about 21 vehicles underwent the emission test. This figure is far below the maximum daily testing capacity of about 128 vehicles for the existing four DVETCs. Vehicle owners who need to have their vehicles tested for emissions can make direct appointments with the DVETC. At present, such emission test is not conducted in the TD's DCTCs.
(2) From September 2014 to April 2015, the EPD issued 3 083 emission testing notices to owners of petrol/LPG vehicles. The monthly statistics by vehicle class is shown in the Annex.
(3) In the past three years, four incidents took place at the TD's DCTCs that had affected the operation of the centres. Details are as follows:
Year No. of incidents Cause of incident
---- ---------------- -----------------
2012 1 Failure of post lift
2013 1 Failure of roller brake tester
2014 2 Failure of suspension tester
Failure of exhaust emission testing
equipment
Since the operation of the EPD's DVETCs in September 2014, there were four incidents of dynamometer malfunctions that had affected emission testing services.
(4) Starting from April 2015, the services of some of the TD's DCTCs have been enhanced, including six centres extending their working hours on normal working days; three centres that originally provide services on normal working days and Saturday extending their services to Sunday; and two centres that originally provide services on normal working days extending their services to Saturday.
In addition, the TD has completed the upgrading and connection of the computer appointment system of the 22 DCTCs. The new appointment system has been in service since June 9, 2015. The new system can avoid the occurrence of repeated appointments and unqualified appointments in the past and utilise more effectively the resources of the DCTCs so as to shorten the waiting time of vehicle owners.
At present, the number of emission tests carried out at the EPD's four DVETCs is far below their testing capacity. Vehicle owners can arrange emission tests for their vehicles without waiting for an appointment. Some DVETCs have also advised that their emission testing services can be extended to Saturday, Sunday or public holidays if necessary.
(5) The TD's DCTCs are operated on a commercial basis. The operators have to arrange staffing, equipment and venues, etc. The TD has already advertised on newspaper on May 7, 2015 inviting interested persons to apply for operating new testing centres. The deadline of the application is June 22, 2015.
The EPD's DVETCs are also operated on a commercial basis. The DVETC operators indicate that they will continue to provide emission test services as long as the emission testing fee is increased to a reasonable level. The EPD has been encouraging suitable operators to set up more DVETCs and there is no limit on the number of testing centres.
(6) Starting from June 9, 2015, the TD has provided a new online checking service on the appointment status at different DCTCs. As at June 15, the daily average use of the service was about 300. During this period, the average time required for making an appointment for vehicle examination was about six weeks.
Ends/Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Issued at HKT 13:26
NNNN
