HKeToll: Hong Kong’s Lion Rock Tunnel to start electronic payments on Sunday, but officials admit there will be no immediate cut in congestion
- Commissioner for Transport says as drivers become used to system, vehicles will move faster through tunnel
- HKeToll to go live at 5am on Sunday and officials warn of temporary closure of tunnel in run-up
“In the past month, we have accumulated a certain amount of experience on running the new system in the two tunnels. So we believe that the system will be implemented successfully at the Lion Rock Tunnel,” Commissioner for Transport Rosanna Law Shuk-pui explained.
“We do not anticipate the system would help cut congestion remarkably at the initial stage. But we believe that with motorists getting more familiar using the system and all toll booths being removed, vehicles are expected to move faster through the tunnel.”
The electronic system will allow drivers to pay the flat rate of HK$8 (US$1) without having to stop at toll booths or queue up.
The new payment method will go live at 5am on Sunday and there will be some permanent lane closures as a result.
The seven lanes to the Kowloon Tong side of the tunnel will be cut to three. The number of lanes to the Sha Tin entrance will be halved from six to three. Toll booths will close for good.
The entire tunnel will be closed from 4.30am to 5am.
Some bus routes will be affected: the N170, N182, N271, N281, and N373, as well as six overnight New Territories green minibus routes, including 61S, 63S, 65S, 501S, 616S, and 805S.
Lanes to Kowloon Tong will be closed in stages from 10pm on Saturday and those at Sha Tin will be closed from 1am on Sunday.
16 per cent of Hong Kong cars detected without fully set up toll payment app
But at least one lane and three toll booths will remain open in both directions at any one time until 4.30am.
About 60,000 vehicles use the Tsing Sha Control Area each day and 50,000 vehicles travel through the Shing Mun Tunnel a day.
Albert Ho Kwan-hang, chief traffic engineer for New Territories East, said the department had issued about 740,000 tags for the e-toll system, which account for more than 91 per cent of the licensed vehicles in the city.
About 80 per cent of tag holders have opened an HKeToll account and 70 per cent of them have already set up automatic payment methods.
Ho added that there were around 10 complaints a day about incorrect charges made to the department after the system was introduced at the two earlier crossings.
Smooth start on first working day for Hong Kong’s automatic tunnel fee system
Law highlighted that 5 per cent of vehicles using the Shing Mun Tunnel did not carry a tag. She said the figure for the Tsing Sha Control Area was higher, but still in the single digits.
HKeToll requires road users to apply for a tag, which is scanned at the tunnel for fares, open a special account online and create a payment method.
Vehicle owners who have set up the account with a payment method will get a successful transaction notification when they go through the tunnel.
Drivers without the HKeToll tag or who have yet to set up a payment method will get an electronic payment notice and are required to settle the account inside 14 business days or face a surcharge of HK$175, raised to HK$350 after 21 days.
Motorists will face legal action if they refuse to pay.
