LCQ8: Encouraging members of public to use public transport
***********************************************************
Question:
The Government has pointed out in the Public Transport Strategy Study (PTSS) released recently that "[e]ncouraging people to use public transport services and to walk more will help reduce the use of private cars. This will in turn further ease road congestion......". However, quite a number of members of the public have relayed to me that the interchange facilities of public transport are inadequate at present and the fare concessions provided by the various public transport operators are not attractive enough for most of the members of the public to give up driving private cars and switch to public transport for travelling to districts with heavy traffic. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the Transport Advisory Committee recommended in its Report on Study of Road Traffic Congestion in Hong Kong released in December 2014 that additional park-and-ride (PnR) car parks be built at transport hubs, whether the Government has plans to build PnR car parks near the existing and the six new Bus-Bus Interchanges planned to be built as mentioned in PTSS, so as to reduce traffic flow in congested districts;
(2) whether it will expeditiously study the installation of closed-circuit television systems at bus stops in districts with heavy traffic so as to enhance the efficiency of the Police in law enforcement against illegal parking; and
(3) whether it will urge the various franchised bus companies to introduce concessionary monthly passes with prices set at $700 or below so as to encourage more members of the public to take the bus?
Reply:
President,
The Government's transport policy is underpinned by public transport. We encourage the public to make good use of the public transport network for their journeys as far as possible and minimise their reliance on private cars. In fact, about 90 per cent of our passenger trips are made on public transport every day, the usage of which is the highest in the world. My reply to various parts of the Hon Michael Tien's question is as follows:
(1) Railway operates on designated tracks, providing fast and convenient service at high carrying capacity and with zero emission. Therefore, it is always our policy that railway serves as the backbone of the public transport system in Hong Kong. On this basis, the Government supports the provision of park-and-ride facilities at or near suitable railway stations, so that drivers can take railway after parking their vehicles, hence reducing the road traffic entering congested areas. The Report on Study of Road Traffic Congestion in Hong Kong issued by the Transport Advisory Committee in December 2014 covers a number of measures which aim at minimising the use of private cars and relieving congestion. One of the measures is to recommend that Government consider providing more park-and-ride car parks in future railway projects, as well as urban redevelopment and new development projects.
Currently, there are 12 car parks providing park-and-ride service in various districts (including urban and rural areas), providing a total of about 3 940 parking spaces. These car parks are located at or near MTR stations, including the Sheung Shui Station, Hong Kong Station, Kowloon Station, Tsing Yi Station, Choi Hung Station, Kam Sheung Road Station, Hung Hom Station, Olympic Station, Hang Hau Station, Wu Kai Sha Station, Tuen Mun Station and Ocean Park Station, to facilitate drivers' transit to MTR. Park-and-ride users (i.e. those who park their cars and transit to MTR to travel to their destinations) enjoy a parking fee discount of about 30 per cent at these car parks. To better utilise the car parks, other drivers (i.e. those who park their cars but do not transit to MTR) can also use these car parks, but will not enjoy such park-and-ride concessions. Since June 2016, the Link Asset Management Limited has also been providing park-and-ride parking discounts to drivers who transit to MTR at its 12 car parks in the vicinity of MTR stations at specified hours.
As regards interchanging with road-based public transport, public transport interchanges (PTIs) are performing this function. At present, there are a total of around 290 PTIs located in various districts across the territory. The public may enjoy convenient interchange with different road-based public transport modes (including franchised buses, green minibuses, non-franchised buses and taxis) at these PTIs. Quite a number of PTIs are adjacent to housing estates and large shopping malls, some of which have carparks for private cars open to the public. Private car users may make use of these carparks for interchanging with suitable public transport services at PTIs where necessary.
The function of bus-bus interchanges (BBIs) is different from that of PTIs. Located at places where many bus routes ply along, BBIs seek to facilitate convenient interchanges between different bus routes by passengers to achieve more efficient uses of bus resources and a more extensive bus network. The BBIs under construction as mentioned in the report of the Public Transport Strategy Study (PTSS) (i.e. the BBIs at Fanling Highway, the Lam Tin portal of Tseung Kwan O – Lam Tin Tunnel, the toll plaza of Tseung Kwan O Tunnel and the toll plaza of the northern connection of Tuen Mun – Chep Lap Kok Link) as well as the existing large-scale BBIs are all located along expressways, major regional trunk roads and tunnel portal areas. These places are subject to topographical and spatial constrains, while tunnel portal areas and toll plazas are within control areas. There is thus no objective condition in these areas for constructing car parks next to existing BBIs or BBIs under construction for interchanging passengers.
In fact, as mentioned in our discussion paper on parking space policy for the meeting of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Transport in May this year, it is often difficult to identify plenty of suitable land for building car parks. Continuous provision of additional parking spaces will also encourage the public to purchase and use private cars, thereby stimulating further growth of the private car fleet and aggravating the road traffic congestion. The traffic impact on the local road network should also be considered when increasing parking spaces. As regards the two BBIs to be set up in Mei Foo and at Prince Edward Road East as proposed in the PTSS report, they are existing facilities for franchised bus operation. The two locations are also within the urban built-up area where, as in the case of some other PTIs, car parks are available in nearby housing estates and shopping malls for private car users. The Government therefore has no plan to construct public car parks at these two locations.
The Government will continue to make reference to the recommendation in the Report on Study of Road Traffic Congestion in Hong Kong, and consider providing more park-and-ride facilities in future railway projects as well as urban redevelopment and new development projects.
(2) The Government is studying proposals relating to the application of information technology (including CCTV cameras) for the monitoring and prosecution of traffic contraventions (such as illegal parking, illegal picking up/ setting down of passengers and loading/unloading of goods). The study includes examining the legal and technical feasibilities of installing such systems for prosecution purposes, and the additional resources required for installing and operating such systems, etc. The objectives are to make use of new technologies to assist frontline officers in taking enforcement actions against traffic contraventions and in enhancing the efficiency of back-end support processes. If the proposals are proven to be practicable, the Government will consider using such systems at appropriate locations to assist in monitoring and prosecution work.
(3) The Government has all along been encouraging franchised bus companies to introduce monthly passes. As I have emphasised at the LegCo repeatedly, monthly pass schemes should meet three conditions in order to benefit the public: (i) their coverage should not be too restrictive such that passenger demand can be met in an appropriate manner; (ii) the pricing of the monthly passes should not be too high so that the fare concession can be practical; and (iii) franchised bus companies should be capable of introducing such monthly passes without passing the costs to non-monthly pass users in order to avoid generating pressure for fare increase in future. We understand that a franchised bus operator is proactively formulating a monthly pass scheme that can meet these three conditions. Upon receipt of details of the proposal, the Transport Department will process it expeditiously and brief the public in detail.
Ends/Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Issued at HKT 16:15
Issued at HKT 16:15
NNNN