Since the Western Harbour Tunnel Company announced an increase in its tunnel fees, various proposals have been made to improve the traffic flow at the three cross-harbour tunnels.
We should start with the basic principle of supply and demand. Taking central Kowloon and Wan Chai as the base locations, the Cross-Harbour Tunnel is the most convenient and its toll should be the highest, say HK$40. The western tunnel is the next most convenient and its toll should be HK$30. The toll for the Eastern Harbour Tunnel would be set at HK$20. The lower tolls would compensate motorists for the inconvenience and the added cost of petrol.
Using the average daily cross-harbour vehicle trips for December 2008 from the Annual Traffic Census 2008, the approximate current average daily revenues for the three tunnels would be as follows:
Cross-Harbour Tunnel, 123,000 at HK$20, equals HK$2.46 million. Eastern Harbour Tunnel, 65,000 at HK$25, equals HK$1.625 million. Western crossing, 50,000 at HK$45 equals HK$2.25 million. Total daily traffic volume is 238,000 and revenue is HK$6.335 million. If my proposal were implemented, the predicted daily traffic volumes and revenues are as follows - Cross-Harbour Tunnel, 70,000 at HK$40, equals HK$2.8 million. Eastern tunnel, 80,000 at HK$20, equals HK$1.6 million. Western tunnel, 90,000, at HK$30, equals HK$2.7 million.
The total daily traffic volume would be 240,000, amounting to revenue of HK$7.1 million.
Based on my prediction, the western crossing's revenue would increase while that of the eastern tunnel would remain more or less unchanged.
I urge our lawmakers to persuade the government to implement my proposal. It could be run as an experiment to see if it works.