CAR licences would become the object of speculation if a quota system was introduced to help cut traffic congestion, according to the Hong Kong Automobile Association.
The association's chief executive, Kendy Chan Kin-chung, said it would be unfair to put the blame for traffic jams wholly on private cars.
But Deputy Secretary for Transport, Carrie Yau Tsang Ka-lai, said it was necessary to implement measures to curb the growth in the number of cars because most commuters used public vehicles.
The number of cars had jumped more than 30 per cent during the past three years, she said.
In some areas of congestion, the Government found that as many as half of the vehicles on the road were cars.
Mr Chan argued that the growth in the number of cars had been declining in the past few years.
There are 268,000 cars on the road, compared with 259,800 in 1993.
