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Following is a question by the Hon Alice Mak and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (May 11):
Question:
As stipulated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG), "optimum use should be made of existing parking facilities and the demand for such facilities should be carefully managed. In those situations where demand for facilities still exceeds supply consideration should be given to providing additional facilities provided that such provision would not be contrary to the Transport Strategy and that it would not overload the road system." Some members of the public have relayed to me that as there is currently a long-standing shortfall of various types of parking spaces in quite a number of districts, some commercial vehicles need to park illegally, and the problem is particularly severe at night-time. They are of the view that the Government should address the shortage of parking spaces expeditiously. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of fixed penalty tickets issued by the Police for illegal parking in daytime and at night-time in the past three years, with a breakdown by police district;
(2) of the following information concerning each of the public car parks owned by the Government at present: (i) the address, (ii) the government department(s) responsible for its management, (iii) the opening hours, and (iv) in respect of each type of parking spaces, the number of them, the fees charged for them, as well as their average monthly utilisation rate last year, and set out such information by District Council (DC) district;
(3) whether it knows (i) the total current number of public car parks operated by the private sector, and (ii) in respect of each type of parking spaces in each car park, the number of them, the fees charged for them, as well as their average monthly utilisation rate last year, and set out such information by DC district;
(4) whether the authorities conducted, in accordance with the standards stipulated in HKPSG, any regular review in the past three years on the adequacy of the numbers of various types of parking spaces in various districts and the parking spaces provided in various public facilities in various districts; if they did, of the details; and
(5) of the addresses of the above-ground/underground multi-storey public car parks in the Government facilities newly constructed in the past three years and the numbers of public parking spaces provided therein, and set out such information by DC district; whether the authorities have any plan to conduct studies and public consultation on the feasibility of making the parking spaces in newly constructed public facilities/government buildings available for public use round the clock in order to ease the shortfall of parking spaces; if they do, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The land resources in Hong Kong are limited. The Government's current policy in the provision of parking spaces is to accord priority to considering and meeting the parking demand of commercial vehicles. In respect of private cars, the Government will provide an appropriate number of parking spaces if the overall development permits, but at the same time not to attract passengers to opt for private cars in lieu of public transport, thereby causing road congestion in the vicinity.
The Transport Department (TD) has been monitoring the supply and demand for parking spaces in Hong Kong and will commence a parking policy review in 2016-17, with priority accorded to considering and meeting the parking need of commercial vehicles. In the light of the review findings, we will examine improvement measures including updating the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG).
My reply to the various parts of the Hon Alice Mak's question is as follows:
(1) The number of fixed penalty tickets issued by the Police for illegal parking in various major Police Districts in the past three years is set out at Annex 1. The Police do not have breakdown figures of fixed penalty tickets issued for illegal parking in daytime and at night-time.
(2) Details of the existing Government public car parks, with a breakdown by District Council (DC) district, are set out at Annex 2.
(3) Public car parks operated by the private sector include car parks run by private operators for public use (private car parks) and short-term tenancy (STT) car parks. The number of parking spaces in private car parks and STT car parks, with a breakdown by DC district, is set out at Annex 3. The Government does not have information on the fees and average monthly utilisation rates for private car parks. For STT car parks, the fees and utilisation rates are set out at Annex 4.
(4) The standards concerning parking spaces as stipulated in the HKPSG aim to provide guidelines for individuals and organisations participating in development projects, as well as Government departments in respect of the parking demand and supply for development projects.
The TD has always been providing advice on the number of parking spaces to be provided in new development projects and redevelopment projects, including public and community facilities, in various districts in accordance with the standards stipulated in the HKPSG. This helps ensure the provision of suitable number of parking spaces in these development projects in accordance with the standards stipulated in the HKPSG.
Moreover, the TD will continue to implement the following measures to increase the number of parking spaces:
(i) maintaining close contact with relevant departments to identify suitable sites for use as temporary car parks as far as possible and when necessary;
(ii) monitoring the utilisation of temporary car parks. If the demand for parking spaces of individual vehicle class is particularly high, the TD may suggest relevant departments designate some STT car parks for the exclusive use by certain vehicle classes when renewing the contract so as to relieve the demand for those types of parking spaces; and
(iii) providing additional on-street parking spaces at locations where there is a parking demand, on the condition that traffic flow, road safety and other road users are not affected.
As mentioned above, the TD will also conduct a parking policy review in 2016-17, with priority accorded to considering and meeting the parking need of commercial vehicles.
(5) The addresses of public car parks and the number of public parking spaces available in newly-constructed Government facilities by DC district from 2012 to 2014 are set out at Annex 5.
As regards the proposal of opening up the parking spaces in newly-constructed public facilities / Government buildings for public use round the clock, the Government will consider factors such as the demand for parking spaces, security and management requirements, etc. of individual public facilities / Government buildings, and determine if the parking spaces of these facilities / buildings are suitable to be opened for public use round the clock. If needed, the departments in charge of the newly-constructed Government facilities will consult the public as appropriate.
Ends/Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Issued at HKT 14:08
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