The franchise of the Western Harbour Crossing will expire next year. The Government has stated earlier that it will take advantage of the opportunity of reclaiming the franchise of the Western Harbour Tunnel to introduce a three-tunnel diversion scheme to solve the long-term traffic congestion problem in the cross-harbour tunnel.
In the latest document submitted by the Transport and Housing Bureau to the Legislative Council yesterday (10th), it submitted three principles for the new three-tunnel diversion scheme, including the introduction of the concept of "congestion levy". Expensive; cheaper during non-peak hours; three tunnels or flat tolls will be considered to prevent drivers from detours for "saving tolls"; at the same time, it is announced that the toll for private cars across the sea will be increased.
Secretary for Transport and Housing, Chen Fan, today (11th) In the blog, in addition to the far overload of the CHT and EHC, the WHC with expensive tolls is also saturated with usage during the morning rush hour. It is believed that adjusting the tolls of the WHC alone will not help solve the dilemma of cross-harbour traffic congestion. Therefore, it is proposed to introduce a "congestion levy" in the hope of improving citizens' travel habits, reducing drivers' detours, improving traffic efficiency, and alleviating the problem of cross-harbour traffic.
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Traffic flooding back tires non-occupants crossing the sea "innocent gushuai buried a share"
Chen Fan said in his blog that there are three main problems in the current traffic conditions of the cross-harbour tunnel, including the continuous increase in cross-harbour traffic. At present, during the peak hours in the morning and evening, the traffic to and from Kowloon is far overloaded by 50%. , the travel time has doubled.
Even the West Tunnel, whose toll is far more expensive than the above-mentioned two cross-harbour tunnels, has reached its design capacity during the morning rush hour on weekdays, and traffic congestion has occurred from time to time in recent years.
He went on to point out that the backflow of traffic in the cross-harbour tunnel also affected non-cross-harbour traffic and local roads.
(Picture of Transport and Housing Bureau)
Chen Fan: Simply adjusting the WHT toll will not help solve the current cross-harbour traffic congestion
Finally, the proportion of private cars in cross-sea vehicles has risen from about 50% to about 60% in the 10 years from 2011 to 2021, but private cars only carry less than 20% of cross-sea passengers.
Buses carrying nearly 80% of passengers crossing the harbour account for only about 8% of the vehicles crossing the harbour.
He emphasized that private cars are inefficient but take up a lot of road space and exacerbate road congestion.
Chen Fan believes that simply adjusting the tolls of the West Tunnel will not help to solve the current cross-harbour traffic congestion. Therefore, the Government proposes to cooperate with the technology of the non-stop toll payment system, and introduce the concept of "congestion levy" when determining the tolls of various cross-harbour tunnels to manage There are three main considerations for the relevant charges:
1. Different fees at different times
The authorities initially suggested that the overall cross-harbour traffic situation should be divided into peak hours, normal hours, and non-peak hours. During non-peak hours, according to traffic conditions, a "Non-Peak Charge", which is lower than the "Normal Charge", will be charged.
2. Reduce the impact of traffic on non-sea traffic and encourage less detours
The authorities suggest that the tolls of the three cross-harbour tunnels at the same time period should be adjusted to a similar level or even the same, which can encourage motorists to reduce detours due to different tolls, save additional travel time and improve the efficiency of the overall road network.
3. Efficiency first
The authorities believe that the "congestion levy" should focus on controlling the use of private cars in the harbour crossing tunnels. Therefore, it is suggested that the "efficiency first" principle should be used as the principle, and the toll level should be determined according to the passenger-carrying efficiency of various types of vehicles and the economic benefits to the society. , including providing transport policy support for franchised buses with high passenger-carrying efficiency, and reviewing the current practice that commercial vehicles such as trucks charge more than private cars.
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