What if tolls at the government-owned Cross-Harbour Tunnel (CHT) were raised? This is one question that Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen has asked the public to consider as part of his consultation on the next budget.
So far, the response to this politically incorrect suggestion has been surprisingly muted. Mr Tang has not been hounded by critics, although it is far too early to say he will not be condemned if he does decide to do what he proposes.
A heartening development is that there is a growing consensus on the need to tackle the serious traffic congestion caused by an uneven distribution of traffic between the three harbour tunnels.
Legislator Albert Chan Wai-yip, vice-chairman of the Legislative Council's transport panel, has even endorsed the idea of setting up an authority to own and manage major infrastructures, including the three tunnels, so that their tolls could be tailored to regulate traffic. In his view, with the economy picking up, the government should be thinking about negotiating a buy-back of the private Western Harbour Crossing (WHC), whose franchise has another 23 years to go.
The CHT now is most heavily used because it has the lowest tolls and is most centrally located. With so many vehicles using the tunnel, roads leading to and from it on both sides of the harbour are choked at all hours.
The location of the other privately-owned tunnel, Eastern Harbour Crossing (EHC), limits its ability to relieve the CHT. But it is disappointing that while the WHC is an accessible and close alternative to the CHT, it has been underutilised since it was opened in 1997 because it has to charge high tolls to pay for its huge construction bill. For example, its fee for private cars, at $40, is double the CHT toll.
Economists have noted that if the CHT had adjusted its tolls in line with inflation, the fee for private cars, set at $5 when it was first opened in 1972, should have been $36 by now. If such an adjustment were made, then the WHC's $40 toll would not look so expensive.