Q Will the increase in tolls worsen traffic congestion?
I would like to follow up on my March 8 letter suggesting that all tunnel fees be set at the same level to reduce traffic on the Central-Causeway Bay trunk road, in light of the latest announcement that the fees for the Eastern Harbour Tunnel are to rise to $25 per car.
Why not set fees at $40 for private cars using any of the three tunnels between 7.30am and 9.30am, and from 4.30pm to 7pm? The small number of drivers who need to use cars at this time can then pay for the impact on the environment the rest of us have to put up with. Such a proposal would balance traffic flow across the harbour and get a lot more people into the habit of using our excellent public transport system. I'd keep commercial vehicle fees at the same level and reduce the charges for buses.
Jason R. Ali, Sheung Wan
The short answer to your question is, of course it will. Do the parties to these decisions never evaluate the cause-and-effect scenarios before implementing such increases?
No one disputes that the tunnel operators must have a return on capital to finance future projects, but surely it would be in the government's and users' best interests if all cross-harbour tunnels had a uniform charge structure.
This would then mean that drivers would choose a tunnel based not on its cost but on how it suited their journey, thus offering a solution to serious congestion.