Carrie Lam’s policy plan boldly follows the government’s tradition of protecting the status quo
Philip Bowring says the few good ideas proposed by Lam, such as revising tunnel toll fees, should have been put in place long ago. Meanwhile, many of Hong Kong’s perennial problems touching on government and business interests were, again, left untouched
And what is so tough about an impost which affects maybe a quarter of the 8 per cent of Hongkongers who own cars and regularly use the tunnels? What, also, is tough about using taxpayers’ money to subsidise users of the western tunnel, another example of pandering to the motorist minority (of whom I am one) by a civil service over-provided with parking spaces and official cars.
The government also protects the cosy developer-linked monopoly, Autotoll, which collects a high fee for its service through almost all the tollways that are government-owned. Such high fees deter many drivers from using electronic payment, necessitating the use of manned booths and thus raising government collection costs. Electronic tolls should be free and compulsory.