Cross-harbour tolls must tackle all traffic, experts say
They say penalising cars and trucks alone for using central crossing is a weak strategy
Of the three options for adjusting tunnel tolls to ease cross-harbour congestion, the one which exempts public transport will be the most popular, but not most effective, experts have warned.
Truck drivers have also signalled opposition to any rise in their tolls, especially if buses were exempted.
Tunnel expert Dr Timothy Hau Doe-kwong and veteran transport analyst Dr Hung Wing-tat were commenting on the three options in a consultation document, under which tolls on the Eastern Harbour Crossing would fall while those on the Cross-Harbour Tunnel rose.
The first option decreases car tolls by HK$5 in the former and raises them HK$5 in the latter, while heavier vehicles are charged according to their resource use. The second alters car tolls by the same amount, while charges for other vehicles rise or fall according to the present structure. The third is a combination of the two with public transport tolls frozen.
Hau and Hung both said the first option was the fairest.
Hau said the last option was unfair to heavy trucks, as trucks and buses were both major culprits for congestion in the Cross-Harbour Tunnel in Hung Hom. It was acceptable to have more private cars than trucks and buses in the tunnel, because they were "much smaller and [more] flexible".