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The Transport Department (TD) today (November 10) said that a number of roads on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon have continued to be illegally occupied by protesters for over 40 days, and this has caused a great impact on the operation of public transport services and people working in the transport trade.
The transport trade, including taxis, public light buses, trams, non-franchised buses and trucks, has repeatedly said that the occupy movement has dealt the trade a heavy blow. The road closures have resulted in traffic congestion and doubled journey time, causing members of the public to avoid using road-based public transport. Some public transport services have had to make a detour or even suspend their services, causing inconvenience to commuters and loss of business to the transport trade.
Meanwhile, if the occupy movement continues and public transport services such as bus services are still unable to resume as normal, frontline staff members will continue to work under great pressure. The TD again called on the protesters illegally occupying the roads to retreat from the carriageways of major trunk roads such as Harcourt Road, to let traffic, public transport services and the daily life of members of the public return to normal.
The TD also observed that there has recently been a growing amount of traffic flow and that serious traffic congestion occurred on inner Gloucester Road in Wan Chai this afternoon. If the traffic flow continues to rise, it may paralyse the traffic on Hong Kong Island. The TD again urged motorists to avoid driving, especially to Hong Kong Island, as far as possible to give public transport services priority over road use.
Regarding public transport services, a total of 223 bus routes were still affected today, with eight bus routes suspended and 215 bus routes diverted. Among the affected bus routes, 80 routes travelling via Mong Kok are diverted due to the closure of a number of road sections in Mong Kok. A total of 20 green minibus routes travelling via Harcourt Road, Nathan Road and Argyle Street are still diverted or suspended or with service adjusted. Currently, the tram service between Percival Street and Paterson Street is still suspended. The MTR Corporation Limited continues to increase services for all urban lines to cope with passenger demand.
The TD's Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre will continue to monitor the road traffic situation and public transport services. For details of road closure, traffic diversion, suspension and route diversion of green minibus services, please refer to the TD's website (www.td.gov.hk). Regarding temporary traffic arrangements for bus routes, please refer to the following bus companies' websites for details:
For routes of Citybus and New World First Bus: www.nwstbus.com.hk/en/uploadedFiles/OC2014/TAA.htm .
For routes of Kowloon Motor Bus: www.kmb.hk/en .
As there will be updates on bus services from time to time due to traffic changes, members of the public are advised to pay attention to the latest service arrangements announced by bus companies before starting their journeys.
Ends/Monday, November 10, 2014
Issued at HKT 19:29
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