Only a stop-gap measure

I REFER to the letter from Mr Gary Kwong Kwok-hong, published in the South China Morning Post on May 5, in which he queried why Hong Kong-bound auto toll users are given priority at the Cross Harbour Tunnel entrance during morning peak hours.

The number of vehicles using Autopass at the Cross Harbour Tunnel, has been increasing steadily since its introduction and has now reached a level where the single southbound auto toll lane now processes twice as many vehicles per hour during the peak period as it did when operated manually.

However, the higher throughput is having an adverse impact on the movement of franchised buses, particularly at the entrance and exit of the southbound bus bay.

The auto toll lane is their sole means of access to the tunnel, therefore, congestion in the lane inevitably inhibits their journey.

In addition, the build-back of vehicles waiting to enter the auto toll lane and the bus bay can reach such numbers that non-tunnel traffic routes outside of the tunnel area become congested.

In order to provide immediate relief to these problems and to minimise delay to the many passengers travelling by bus, Tunnel Traffic Officers operate a priority procedure at the tunnel entrance by halting, or directing to the right, all non-auto toll lane traffic.