LCQ4: Roadside air quality and traffic flows
********************************************

     Following is a question by the Hon Dennis Kwok and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (February 15):

Question:
 
     Since its release of the Clean Air Plan for Hong Kong in 2013, the Environment Bureau has implemented one after another a number of measures which aim to improve roadside air quality.  However, there are comments that the growth in the number of vehicles and the shortage of parking spaces in recent years have caused motorists to drive their vehicles in circles on roads in search of parking spaces or queuing up for entry into a car park, which exacerbates traffic congestion.  As a result, the emissions from vehicles have increased and the roadside air pollutants in built-up areas (e.g. Central) are often difficult to disperse.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the respective average daily vehicular flows of Aberdeen Tunnel, Lion Rock Tunnel, Shing Mun Tunnels, Tseung Kwan O Tunnel, Sha Tin Heights Tunnel, Eagle's Nest Tunnel, Tai Wai Tunnel, Kai Tak Tunnel, Cheung Tsing Tunnel and Nam Wan Tunnel last year, with a breakdown by vehicle category and the respective percentages of such figures in their total vehicular flows; the quantities of various types of air pollutants (including nitrogen oxides and respirable suspended particulates) emitted by various categories of vehicles in various tunnels during that period and the respective percentages of such quantities in the total emission of air pollutants; if such information is unavailable, of the reasons for that;
 
(2) of the respective average daily vehicular flows on the sections of Des Voeux Road Central, Connaught Road Central and Queen's Road Central in Central in the past three years, with a breakdown by vehicle category and the respective percentages of such figures in their total vehicular flows; the quantities of various types of air pollutants emitted by various categories of vehicles at such road sections during that period and the respective percentages of such quantities in the total emission of air pollutants; if such information is unavailable, of the reasons for that;
 
(3) of the respective numbers of public parking spaces currently available at the three road sections mentioned in (2) and in Central district; among them, the respective numbers of parking spaces in government car parks, in private car parks and on government lands rented out on short-term tenancies; and
 
(4) of the respective numbers of fixed penalty tickets issued by the Police in the past three years in respect of illegal parking at those three road sections and in Central district; if such information is unavailable, of the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
      The Government has launched a number of measures to improve roadside air quality, including launching an incentive-cum-regulatory scheme to phase out some 82 000 pre-Euro IV diesel commercial vehicles progressively, strengthening emission control for petrol and liquefied petroleum gas vehicles, and retrofitting emission reduction devices and setting up low emission zones for franchised buses.  During the period, although road traffic congestion resulted in increased vehicle emission has offsetted some of the effects of the above measures, roadside air quality has still improved significantly.  From 2012 to 2016, the concentrations of major pollutions recorded by the Environment Protection Department (EPD)'s roadside monitoring stations, viz. respirable suspended particulates and nitrogen dioxide, have decreased by 28% and 31% respectively.
 
      My reply to the various parts of the Hon Dennis Kwok's question is as follows.
 
(1) The average daily vehicular flows of Aberdeen Tunnel, Lion Rock Tunnel, Shing Mun Tunnels, Tseung Kwan O Tunnel, Eagle's Nest Tunnel, Sha Tin Heights Tunnel, Tai Wai Tunnel, Kai Tak Tunnel, Cheung Tsing Tunnel and Nam Wan Tunnel in 2015 (Note 1), with a breakdown by vehicle class and the respective percentages, are set out in Annex 1. 
 
     EPD's preliminary estimates on the amount of respirable suspended particulates and nitrogen oxides emitted by various classes of vehicles at the above-mentioned tunnels in 2015 (Note 2), as well as the respective percentages, are set out in Annex 2.

(2) Based on the Transport Department (TD)'s information, the respective average daily vehicular flow on the sections of Des Voeux Road Central, Connaught Road Central and Queen's Road Central within Central district in the past three years (i.e. from 2013 to 2015) (Note 3), and the percentage of vehicular flow for various classes of vehicles on certain sections of the above roads derived from sampling, are set out in Annex 3.  The TD does not keep the actual figures of the total vehicular flows by vehicle class for the road sections concerned.

     EPD's preliminary estimates (Note 4) on the amount of respirable suspended particulates and nitrogen oxides emitted by various classes of vehicles on the above-mentioned road sections from 2013 to 2015, as well as the respective percentages are set out in Annex 4.
 
(3) The numbers of public parking spaces along Connaught Road Central, Des Voeux Road Central and Queen's Road Central, as well as within Central district, are tabulated below:

Location                Number of Public Parking Spaces
                            Government Privately
                            Car Park       Operated      Subtotal
                            (Note 5)       Car Park
                                               (Note 6) 
Connaught Road       1 597           226            1 823
Central 
Des Voeux Road           -                97                 97
Central 
Queen's Road               -             1 605           1 605
Central 
Central district         2 757           5 850           8 607
(Note 7)

(4)  The fixed penalty tickets issued in the past three years in respect of illegal parking at Connaught Road Central, Des Voeux Road Central and Queen's Road Central, and in the Central Police District are tabulated below:

Location                 2014              2015             2016
                                                                    (Note 8)
Des Voeux Road       564                569               801
Central
Connaught Road     1 251             1 723            2 017
Central
Queen’s Road         2 473             2 910            3 574
Central
Central Police       50 358            58 135          65 409 
District (Note 9)

Note 1: As EPD has not yet completed the analysis of the detailed statistics required for estimating the vehicle emission for 2016 (e.g. vehicle population distribution by age, diurnal variation of ambient temperature and relative humidity, etc.), we have provided only the estimates of vehicle emission for 2015 for comparison purpose for this part of the reply.
 
Note 2: The emission level is deduced from the hourly traffic flow of each tunnel provided by the TD, travel speed during rush hours, speed limit, vehicle class in the Annual Traffic Census, the overall vehicle age of the year and emission standard distribution, etc.
 
Note 3: As mentioned in Note (1), EPD's figures for 2016 are still being collated.
 
Note 4: The emission level is deduced from the traffic flow data in the Annual Traffic Census, data of The Third Comprehensive Transport Study, vehicle speed during rush hours surveyed by journey time, the overall vehicle age of the year and emission standard distribution, etc.
 
Note 5: For this reply, Government car parks include car parks managed by TD and Government Property Agency, as well as on-street parking spaces.
 
Note 6: There is no short-term tenancy carpark in Central district.
 
Note 7: Central district means the Chung Wan constituency of the Central and Western District Council, which covers the above three roads.
 
Note 8: Provisional figures.
 
Note 9: The Central Police District covers an area running from Arsenal Street to the east, up until the peak and the Aberdeen Country Park to the south. It is delineated by the Eastern Street to the west and extends along the waterfront.  Its coverage is larger than the Chung Wan constituency of the District Council, and covers the three abovementioned roads.

Ends/Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Issued at HKT 12:52

NNNN