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Following is a question by the Hon Wong Kwok-kin and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (January 6):
Question:
The Government will take over the ownership of the Eastern Harbour Crossing (EHC) upon expiry of the EHC franchise in August this year. Quite a number of members of the public have relayed to me that the Government should then reduce the tolls at EHC, with a view to achieving a more reasonable distribution of the cross-harbour vehicular flows among the three road harbour crossings (RHCs) (namely EHC, Cross Harbour Tunnel (CHT) at Hung Hom and Western Harbour Crossing), and to reducing the operating costs of public transport service vehicles to make room for fare reduction, thereby bringing benefits to passengers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current average traffic volumes of the connecting roads of the various RHCs on (i) Mondays to Saturdays and (ii) Sundays/public holidays, and the average traffic volume/capacity ratios of each of these connecting roads during rush hours (set out in a table);
(2) of the respective average number of southbound and northbound vehicle trips currently made daily by (i) franchised buses, (ii) public light buses (PLBs) and (iii) taxis using the various RHCs in different time periods (set out in the table in Annex 1);
(3) given that the authorities announced in February 2014 that the trial implementation of the option of "EHC reduction-CHT increase" (i.e. toll reduction at EHC and toll increase at CHT with a view to diverting some vehicular flows from CHT to EHC, thereby relieving the congestion at CHT) would be held in abeyance, whether the authorities will, in view of the latest traffic condition, consider afresh the trial implementation of the option; if they will, of the details and timetable;
(4) with regard to the franchised buses and PLBs using EHC, of their respective (i) numbers of routes and (ii) total numbers of daily trips at present, and (iii) whether the authorities know the total amounts of EHC tolls paid respectively by the operators concerned last year; and
(5) whether it will consider lowering the tolls payable by public transport service vehicles for using EHC upon taking over the ownership of EHC, so as to reduce the operating costs of the routes concerned, making room for fare reduction and bringing benefits to passengers?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the various parts of the Hon Wong Kwok-kin's question is as follows.
(1) The average traffic volumes of the major connecting roads of the three road harbour crossings (RHCs) on Mondays to Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and the traffic volumes of these roads during the morning peak hours, are tabulated in Annex 2.
As regards the traffic volume/capacity ratio (v/c ratio), since the traffic volumes of the connecting roads include traffic not bound for the RHCs concerned, and the capacities may include those lanes leading to other districts, the v/c ratios calculated with the traffic volume and capacity of the above-mentioned connecting roads can neither reliably indicate the conditions of the traffic queues at the RHCs concerned, nor accurately reflect the impact of the traffic at each of the major connecting roads on the RHCs concerned. For example, the capacity of Gloucester Road (eastbound), which is connected to the Cross Harbour Tunnel (CHT), also includes the capacities of lanes leading to Wan Chai North and Eastern District/Happy Valley. The v/c ratio thus calculated cannot truly reflect the condition of the traffic queues on this connecting road caused by the congestion at CHT. Therefore, we have not tabulated the average v/c ratio of each connecting road during peak hours. To more accurately reflect the traffic condition at these road sections, we have tabulated the average car journey speeds at the major connecting roads during the morning peak hours in Annex 3.
(2) The traffic volumes of buses, light buses and taxis using the southbound and northbound of CHT, Eastern Harbour Crossing (EHC) and Western Harbour Crossing (WHC) during different times of the day are set out in Annex 4.
(3) and (5) The Government has earlier undertaken to study the rationalisation of traffic distribution among the three RHCs to alleviate traffic congestion at RHCs (in particular at CHT) by toll adjustment. The traffic condition at EHC, particularly at its connecting roads, is deteriorating. If the Government were to lower the toll levels of EHC only, the diverted traffic to EHC would almost certainly further aggravate the traffic conditions in Eastern Kowloon and Island East. Thus, any toll adjustment scheme must take into account all three RHCs in a holistic manner. WHC, though currently running under its design capacity, is constrained by the traffic conditions at its connecting roads. Nevertheless, when commissioned, the Central-Wanchai Bypass will help ease the congestion of the connecting roads of WHC, providing greater scope for the Government to formulate and consider implementing a comprehensive toll adjustment scheme (including the tolls for public transport service vehicles) covering three RHCs to rationalise the traffic thereat. Following the Government's takeover of EHC in August this year, we will continue our study on this front and consult the Legislative Council and the public on proposals in due course.
(4) Currently, there are 21 franchised bus routes plying EHC, with the average daily number of trips and daily tolls payable totalling about 1 860 and $210,000 respectively. As regards green minibuses (GMBs) (see note), there are currently only two overnight GMB routes plying EHC, with the daily number of trips and daily tolls payable totalling about 69 and $2,600 respectively. The tolls for plying EHC only account for less than 1 per cent of the total operating costs of the franchise bus and GMB operators concerned. Therefore, even if the tunnel tolls for these franchise bus and GMB routes are reduced, there will be limited room for lowering the fare for individual passengers.
Note: The routes, timetables and service levels of red minibuses (RMBs) are not subject to regulation by the Transport Department (TD). RMB operators are free to adjust their services flexibly in response to market demand, and may set their own fares. Therefore, TD cannot provide the number of RMB routes currently plying the EHC and the number of trips involved.
Ends/Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Issued at HKT 15:11
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