Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2188268/hong-kong-budget-blind-road-safety-though-over-100-are-killed-every Letters
Hong Kong budget blind to road safety, though over a 100 are killed every year
- While efforts to ease traffic congestion are warranted, some resources should also be allocated to improving road safety
- Does “broadly” matching the net revenue generated by electronic road pricing on improving public services mean more subsidies for bus and taxi companies?
Police officers inspect a green minibus which flipped onto its side on a section of Shing Mun Tunnel Road in January. Photo: Sam Tsang
Within the 2019-2020 budget, there is a single paragraph on traffic improvement and nothing at all on road safety.
The Central-Wan Chai Bypass has finally been opened and the government will begin another round of consultation on electronic road pricing. While stating that the intention is not to generate revenue, the government says it will spend “broadly” the equivalent net revenue generated by electronic road pricing on improving public services. Does that mean more subsidies for bus and taxi companies?
The government should spend all the net revenue from electronic road pricing on improving road safety. Otherwise it will be just another revenue generator.
With over 100 people killed on the roads in Hong Kong every year and more than 15,000 people injured, and consistently so year on year over the past 10 years, road safety is an area that has been and is still being neglected.
The Transport Department has yet to release the traffic accident figures for 2018. Is it because these statistics are released after the budget that road safety is not fresh in the minds of people who decide where the money goes? The figures are required for a meaningful debate.
According to the Transport Department website, the last time the department replied to a letter in any newspaper was in June 2017, would they consider replying to this letter with the traffic accident statistics for 2018?
Neil Dunn, Kowloon Tong