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Following is a question by the Hon Sin Chung-kai and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (June 22):
Question:
In order to solve the problem of traffic congestion in the relevant districts, the Government is planning the Electronic Road Pricing Pilot Scheme in Central and its Adjacent Areas (the pricing scheme) and has already completed the first round of public engagement exercise. The authorities have indicated that, based on the views collected, they will proceed with the next stage of work, including the engagement of a specialist consultant to conduct an in-depth feasibility study, and will start the second round of public engagement exercise upon the formulation of concrete proposals. On the other hand, it was mentioned in the document of the first round of public engagement that while there had been an average annual increase of about 3 per cent in the number of vehicles in Hong Kong in the past 10 years, the rate of expansion of the road network was expected to decrease in the next few years from about 0.8 per cent per annum to about 0.4 per cent per annum, indicating that the growth in the provision of roads would be far lower than the growth in demand. On the issues relating to the implementation of the pricing scheme, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will, prior to the engagement of a specialist consultant to conduct the aforesaid feasibility study, report to the Legislative Council the views collected during the first round of public engagement exercise and the analysis of such views; if it will, of the timetable;
(2) whether it will consider using part of the toll revenue to subsidise public transport vehicles which serve Central (e.g. franchised buses and public light buses) upon the implementation of the pricing scheme, so as to reduce fares and attract more members of the public to use such services;
(3) whether it will, in implementing the pricing scheme, consider granting toll exemption to the vehicles used by residents, schools and non-profit-making organisations in the charging areas; if it will, of the details;
(4) of the progress and the contents of the work carried out by the authorities last year on formulating the coverage of charging areas and levels of charges under the pricing scheme, and the details of the relevant work in the coming 12 months; and
(5) whether it will implement measures to curb the growth in the number of vehicles with a view to alleviating the seriously overloaded traffic network at source?
Reply:
President,
My consolidated reply to the various parts of the Hon Sin Chung-kai's question is as follows.
Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) has been successfully implemented in many overseas cities like Singapore, London (the United Kingdom) and Gothenburg (Sweden), as an effective transport management tool to alleviate localised road traffic congestion. In the past, Hong Kong conducted three rounds of studies and discussions on ERP. Nevertheless, the implementation of ERP was not taken forward due to various considerations.
In March 2014, the Government invited the Transport Advisory Committee (TAC) to conduct a study on the causes of and solutions to road traffic congestion in Hong Kong. In end 2014, TAC submitted to the Government a report on its study. The Government accepted the report, and will implement in phases a series of short, medium and long-term measures recommended by TAC, including managing the private car fleet size and planning for a congestion charging pilot scheme (see the Annex for details).
The Government conducted a three-month public engagement exercise for the ERP Pilot Scheme in Central and its Adjacent Areas (ERP Pilot Scheme) between December 2015 and March 2016. When announcing the commencement of the public engagement exercise, I stated clearly that the Government considered it necessary to launch the ERP Pilot Scheme to tackle road traffic congestion and the key is to formulate a comprehensive implementation plan.
During the public engagement exercise, we enhanced the public's understanding of the basic concepts of ERP and overseas implementation experiences through various channels. We also organised a District Council forum, met with professional bodies as well as the transport sector, and attended themed seminars and meetings arranged by different sectors to explain the concept of the ERP Pilot Scheme. Through the public engagement exercise, we collected views from the public and stakeholders which facilitate the drawing up of an ERP Pilot Scheme tailored to local circumstances with the basic elements such as the charging area, charging mechanism and level, and the technology to be applied, etc.
We have received many valuable comments, including the suggestion to designate the revenue from the ERP Pilot Scheme for specific purposes and to provide exemptions or concessions to certain types of vehicles or road users. At present, we have an open mind to views received, including the use of revenue from the ERP charges. Nevertheless, it should be noted that as shown from overseas experiences, the more exemptions or concessions are provided, the less effective the ERP scheme would be on alleviating road traffic congestion and the higher charges payable by the types of vehicles not exempted or not enjoying concessions.
The Government is now collating the comments received during the public engagement exercise. We will engage a consultant to conduct an in-depth feasibility study for the ERP Pilot Scheme, which will analyse in detail the comments from the public and stakeholders. The consultant will also look into the latest traffic data, overseas experiences and the findings of previous ERP studies, etc. in formulating detailed options for further discussion by the public. The Government will also consult the Legislative Council on the proposed options. The Transport Department has commenced preparatory work for the feasibility study, including specifying the scope of study and preparing the tender document for selecting the consultant, etc.
The Government will not only rely on ERP to resolve the problem of road traffic congestion. We will adopt a multi-pronged approach to tackle the problem, encompassing efforts to improve transport infrastructure, expand and improve the public transport system, and manage road use.
Ends/Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Issued at HKT 14:31
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