Transport authorities begin survey of 35,000 Hong Kong households to gauge travel behaviour, data to impact city’s development plans

The survey, held once every 10 years, will look into areas such as choices of transport mode and whether new technology has changed commute patterns

While not mandatory, residents are encouraged to participate as the data will play a part in the government’s development plans for the city

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The Transport Department says the traffic data gauged in the HK$15 million survey is necessary for future development plans. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 8:23pm, 5 Sep 2022Updated: 8:28pm, 5 Sep 2022

Authorities have invited 35,000 households in Hong Kong to take part in a once-in-a-decade survey aimed at better understanding residents’ commuting patterns and how they are affected by new technology and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Commencing the four-month survey on Monday, the Transport Department said the traffic data gauged in the HK$15 million (US$1.91 million) project was necessary for future development plans.

“All those [plans] will need to conduct their own [traffic impact assessment], which will be based on our latest travel characteristics data. In other words, this data will have an impact on all developments,” said Tony Yau Kwok-ting, the deputy commissioner for transport (planning and technical services).

Yau said the information would be useful for development plans including the Lantau Tomorrow Vision project – a massive land reclamation scheme – and the Northern Metropolis, a housing plan proposed by Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor when she was city leader last year. The latter aims to transform 30,000 hectares of rural area covering Yuen Long and North district near the border into an economic and residential hub, housing up to 2.5 million people in the next two decades.

The respondents will be asked about the duration of their commute journeys, their choices of transport mode, their views on transport infrastructure and if they use transport apps on smartphones, among other questions.

The government is aiming to complete the survey by December and release preliminary results by June next year. Photo: Felix Wong

The survey will also look into how technology, such as real-time traffic information provided on smartphone apps, has affected commuting habits, while the influence of changing lifestyles will also be studied.