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Following is a question by the Hon Frankie Yick and the written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (July 8):
Question:
The Transport Advisory Committee submitted its Report on Study of Road Traffic Congestion in Hong Kong (Report) to the Transport and Housing Bureau (THB) at the end of last year. THB agrees to the recommendations put forward in the Report, including containing the growth of private cars (PCs) by raising their first registration tax (FRT) and annual licence fee in order to alleviate road traffic congestion. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
(1) a breakdown by vehicle price (excluding the FRT payable) of (i) the number of newly registered PCs, and (ii) the year-on-year percentage change in such number, in each of the past 10 years (set out in table 1);
(2) (i) the number of PCs the ownership of which was transferred, (ii) the year-on-year percentage change in such number, and (iii) the percentage of such number in the total number of registered PCs, in each of the past 10 years (set out in table 2);
(3) the number of PCs the vehicle registration of which was cancelled in each of the past 10 years, broken down by the vehicle age group to which they belonged (set out in table 3);
(4) the respective (i) numbers and (ii) percentages of registered PCs as at the end of 2014 which belonged to the vehicle age groups (set out in table 4); and
(5) the factors considered by the Government in deciding whether to increase the FRT rate of PCs?
Reply:
President,
Upon my invitation last year, the Transport Advisory Committee conducted a study of road traffic congestion in Hong Kong and submitted a report at the end of last year. The Government agrees in principle with the proposed measures mentioned in the report and plans to implement them in phases. In formulating the details of the measures, we will consider holistically all relevant factors, including public sentiments, stakeholders' views, the availability of resources and overseas experience, etc. to propose with modifications and supplementary measures as appropriate.
My reply to the various parts of the question raised by the Hon Frankie Yick is as follows.
(1) The number of newly registered private cars (PCs) (by vehicle taxable value) from 2005 to 2014 is in Annex I.
(2) The number of PCs the ownership of which was transferred from 2005 to 2014 is in Annex II.
(3) The number of PCs the vehicle registration of which was cancelled (by vehicle age group) from 2005 to 2014 is in Annex III.
(4) The number of registered PCs (by vehicle age group) as at end 2014 is in Annex IV.
(5) As mentioned above, the Government will take into account various factors when implementing the proposed measures to alleviate road traffic congestion. When reviewing the vehicle first registration tax, the Government will consider the issue from the perspectives of transport policy, environmental protection and public finance, etc.
As far as transport policy is concerned, when considering raising the first registration tax as a means to control the growth of PCs, the Government will take account of road congestion situation, the trend of PC growth, availability of public transport services and the affordability of motorists, etc.
Ends/Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Issued at HKT 15:45
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