CAR drivers face sharp increases in the cost of motoring and severe restrictions on where they can drive, according to a government transport strategy to be unveiled today.
Entitled A Report to Address Traffic Congestion, the package of measures endorsed by the Executive Council yesterday will be subject to a three-month public consultation period.
Conceding that the strategy of solving congestion by merely building more roads had failed, the Government said the only long-term answer to Hong Kong's worsening traffic jams was the controversial electronic road pricing (ERP) system.
Exco member Professor Felice Lieh-mak revealed that a pilot ERP scheme would be proposed in the medium term to test whether the system would work in Hong Kong.
'There is very limited experience from other countries and thus Hong Kong will have to implement the scheme cautiously,' she said.
The ERP option was contained in a report compiled by the Transport Branch on the overall strategy to solve traffic snarls.