Early last year, officials said that the proposal to increase the first registration tax on private cars was aimed at tackling air pollution. Legislators who didn't initially support the idea had to be convinced that the financial burden on new car owners was a small price to pay for reducing the health burden of the community.
Clearly, fewer cars means less emissions, and that can only benefit public heath. But now we have a proposal to allow a limited number of mainlanders to drive their private cars into Hong Kong. This has triggered much public opposition, with the fear that it would increase risks for motorists and pedestrians.
We are also concerned that it would worsen our already poor roadside air quality, with pollutants generated by vehicles trapped between Hong Kong's tall buildings and unable to disperse. Hong Kong already has one of the highest densities of vehicles on its roads when compared with other cities, with 570 vehicles per square kilometre.
Our government proposes to allow a quota of 50 local private cars to travel across the border in the first phase. In return, as part of the second phase, it plans to allow 50 private cars from the mainland to enter Hong Kong for a stay of up to seven days. That means, on any day, there could potentially be 350 more mainland cars on our roads.
No doubt, once the tourism-related industries have experienced the benefits of the scheme, the two governments would move to increase the daily quota.
Hong Kong's private cars are relatively new and feature the latest stringent emission standards. In addition, our government has set a very high standard for fuel.