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Solution to congestion not so easy

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I REFER to C.K. Lau's article headlined 'Don't drive middle class off the road' (South China Morning Post, November 22) on the package of measures to address traffic congestion which is presently the subject of a public consultation exercise.

Perhaps I should make it clear at the outset that the aim of our proposal is not to drive motorists off the road but, as an immediate objective, to seek to reduce the rate of growth in the numbers of private vehicles from the current 10 per cent per annum to about two to three per cent per annum.

If we do not achieve this then we risk traffic gridlock, which would have very serious consequences for everyone. It is because we seek to slow the growth in private vehicle numbers that we have proposed increases in First Registration Tax.

The percentage increase proposed is higher for small cars because this is the sector where growth is greatest (78 per cent of new registrations). The proposed increase in Annual Licence Fees will do no more than restore the real value of the fees by taking account of inflation in the period since the last adjustment.

In the longer term, we propose the introduction of electronic road pricing which will charge for road usage. This will be a fairer and more flexible system in that it will not seek to limit car ownership, but rather to restrict the usage of vehicles at peak hours in the busiest areas.

Mr Lau says that even now very few owners of small cars can afford to drive to work. But the fact is that private cars are the biggest single component of peak hour road traffic, amounting to between 40 per cent and 50 per cent on most roads, and more than 60 per cent in the Cross Harbour Tunnel.

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