LCQ13: Supply of parking spaces in Ma On Shan
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     Following is a question by the Dr Hon Elizabeth Quat and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, in the Legislative Council today (November 1):

Question:

​     In recent days, many residents in Ma On Shan relayed to me that there was a severe shortage of parking spaces in the district.  Regarding the supply of and demand for parking spaces in Ma On Shan, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the respective current numbers of parking spaces provided in the (i) housing estates, (ii) shopping malls and (iii) temporary car parks in Ma On Shan, and (iv) the current number of roadside metered parking spaces in the district, with a tabulated breakdown by the geographical distribution of such parking spaces and category of vehicles to be parked;

(2) whether it has compiled statistics on the numbers of various categories of vehicles in frequent need of parking in Ma On Shan at present;

(3) of the number of fixed penalty tickets issued by the Police in each of the past three years in respect of illegal parking in Ma On Shan;

(4) whether the authorities will provide additional parking spaces for motorcycles, container vehicles, medium/heavy goods vehicles and tourist coaches in Ma On Shan, so as to solve the shortage problem of such parking spaces in the long run; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(5) given that in recent years the authorities resumed a number of pieces of land originally used as temporary car parks in Ma On Shan and rezoned them for housing development purpose, resulting in an even tighter supply of parking spaces in the district, whether the authorities will separately identify idle land for providing temporary car parks in the district; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(6) of the number of revisions that have been made to the standards and guidelines on parking facilities, since they were drawn up, in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG), as well as the rationale and basis for each of the revisions; and

(7) as it is stipulated in HKPSG that "[o]ptimum 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", whether the authorities will, targeting at the problem of insufficient parking spaces in Ma On Shan, formulate short, medium and long term measures, with a view to thoroughly solving the problem of severe shortage of parking spaces in the district; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

​     My reply to the various parts of Dr Hon Elizabeth Quat's question is as follows:

(1) and (2) At present, there are over 18 000 vehicle parking spaces of various types in Ma On Shan.  Among them, 16 846 parking spaces are located in residential developments or shopping malls; 1 376 are located in short-term tenancy (STT) car parks; and 248 are on-street parking spaces.  The details on distribution of parking spaces are at Annex 1.

​     The Transport Department (TD) has not compiled statistics on the numbers of various types of vehicles which need to be parked in Ma On Shan.

(3) In 2015, 2016 and 2017 (up to September 30), the Police have issued 18 244, 19 423 and 15 788 fixed penalty tickets respectively in relation to illegal parking in the area under the Ma On Shan Division. 

​     Enforcement actions have been carried out as appropriate by the Ma On Shan Division in accordance with the Selected Traffic Enforcement Priorities of the Police.  To tackle illegal parking, the Ma On Shan Division has implemented targeted traffic control measures at different hours.  The Police will continue to closely monitor the traffic conditions.

(4), (5) and (7) The Chief Executive's 2017 Policy Address set out that the Government will implement a series of short- and medium- to long-term measures to increase parking spaces in various districts having regard to the local situation in order to combat illegal parking.  These measures include studying the opening up of parking spaces and loading/unloading bays currently designated for own use of the development projects concerned and putting them up for night-time public parking of commercial vehicles; requiring developers to provide parking spaces at the higher end of the range under the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG); and providing public car parks in suitable new government, institution and community facilities.

​     The TD addresses the parking issues of Ma On Shan mainly through the following measures:

(i) providing additional on-street parking spaces at locations where there is parking demand, on condition that traffic flow, road safety and road users are not affected;

(ii) keeping close liaison with relevant departments to identify suitable sites for use as temporary car parks as far as possible and monitoring the utilisation of such car parks.  If the demand for parking spaces for individual type of vehicle is particularly high, the required numbers of parking spaces for those vehicle types will be specified in the tendering or contract renewal of the temporary car parks concerned so as to relieve the demand for those types of parking spaces; and

(iii) requiring developers to provide parking facilities in new development projects.  The TD will suggest to developers the numbers of parking spaces required for the projects concerned in accordance with the HKPSG, and will consider adopting flexibly the higher end of the range of parking standards as the basis of calculation, taking into account traffic and transport related factors in the vicinity of the projects.  The TD will also impose additional terms on suitable projects requiring the provision of public parking spaces.

​     The TD has planned 18 additional on-street night-time parking spaces for goods vehicles at Hang Kin Street and Sui Cheung Street in Ma On Shan.  District consultation on the plan is underway.  The TD has also proposed adding around 40 motorcycle parking spaces at the STT car park planned for Area 73 in Ma On Shan.  Meanwhile, the department will continue to actively communicate with other relevant government departments to identify idle land suitable for use as STT car parks.

​     According to the survey on STT car parks in Ma On Shan conducted by the TD in late 2016, the day-time utilisation rates of parking spaces for various types of vehicles were below 70 per cent; while the night-time utilisation rates of parking spaces for private cars and coaches were generally higher.  A number of sites in Ma On Shan originally used for temporary car parks have been taken back by the Government in recent years for residential or government facilities development.  Although parking spaces will be in relatively tight supply in the areas concerned during the construction phases, the TD has taken into account the traffic demand of those areas and required the project proponents to include in the projects public parking spaces for various types of vehicles in order to relieve the public demand for parking spaces.  For instance, the TD has requested that public parking spaces for private cars, minibuses/school buses, light goods vehicles and motorcycles should be provided under the planned "Sports Centre in Area 103, Ma On Shan" project.

(6) From time to time, the Government reviews and updates the standards in relation to parking spaces set out in the HKPSG.  The considerations include the utilisation rates of various types of parking spaces and circumstances affecting vehicle fleet growth, etc.  The HKPSG was formulated in 1982.  The Government has updated the standards and guidelines in relation to parking spaces in Chapter 8 of the HKPSG a number of times since 1997.  The scope of amendment is set out at Annex 2.  The Government will continue to review and update the standards and guidelines of parking space in a timely manner.

Ends/Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Issued at HKT 14:00

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