14 streets in central Hong Kong to be covered by pilot electronic road pricing scheme, government paper says – but then document withdrawn for ‘technical reasons’
- Transport bureau paper submitted to district council reveals for first time details of scheme, which government started studying in the 1980s
- Proposal was supposed to be discussed at council meeting but item was removed from agenda and paper retracted
Fourteen streets in the heart of Hong Kong will be covered by a pilot electronic road pricing scheme as officials aim to reduce traffic in the area by 15 per cent, according to a government paper.
The Transport and Housing Bureau paper submitted to Central and Western District Council revealed for the first time the details of the scheme, which the government first started studying in the 1980s and re-examined in 2017.
The proposal was supposed to be discussed at the council’s meeting on Thursday. But the item was removed from the agenda and the paper retracted at the last minute, with the discussion expected to be rescheduled to May.
A government source said the retraction was down to a “technical reason”.
According to the document, first made public on Tuesday, the government plans to implement a charging zone in Central, which will cover 14 streets from the waterfront to Hollywood Road. Motorists will be charged a fee for entering the area, which includes Queen’s Road Central, Des Voeux Road Central and Connaught Road Central.
“With reference to overseas experiences, we propose to set the target of the pilot scheme to reduce traffic flow in the central business district by 15 per cent,” the document said.
However, the paper did not say when the scheme would begin, how long it would last or how much motorists would be charged. It did reveal that fees would differ depending on the time of day, but without elaborating.
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It said fees would be charged using radio-frequency identification technology and that the money would be funnelled back into developing public transport.
While the recently opened Central-Wan Chai Bypass falls within the zone, the document said motorists would not be charged for using it.
Should the scheme prove effective, the document said, the average speed of vehicles in the zone during peak hours may be raised from 3km/h to 5km/h and waiting times at junctions would be cut.
Blaming the paper’s withdrawal on a technical reason, the source added: “The government can only submit documents for discussion at least two days before a district council meeting.”
The source said some members preferred to discuss the proposal in May during a full council meeting and that was when it would probably be re-tabled.
But Democratic Party lawmaker and district councillor Ted Hui Chi-fung said the retraction could have been because the scheme was unpopular.
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The plan was shelved after it failed to gain the support of parties from across the political divide.
Hui said the government should give Central residents a discount on the road pricing, as going in and out of the charging zone may be unavoidable for some.
Pro-establishment district councillor Chan Choi-hi, the transport committee chairman, said there was not enough time for members to study the document or file amendment motions.
Key information, such as the proposed fees, was also missing, Chan said.
“The word on the street is that the charging hours will be between 8am to 8pm,” he said.
