Cross-harbour tunnel toll plan to return to Hong Kong’s legislature, though lawmakers remain unconvinced

A proposal to revamp Hong Kong’s cross-harbour tunnel tolls will resurface on the legislature agenda at the end of March, after strong political opposition forced it to be put on hold.

Transport minister Frank Chan Fan and his team of officials spent the last two days lobbying hard for support, but the revised plan looked in limbo with even the pro-establishment camp appearing difficult to convince.

The pro-democracy camp continued to stand firm against the plan that prompted a vehement public backlash in January.

Pro-government lawmaker Ben Chan Han-pan, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), said his party would wait and see how well the government gauged public support for the plan over the next month.

“We had a candid exchange of views,” Chan said of a meeting between DAB members and representatives from the Transport Department.

“The government made some changes to the plan. But they failed to address our concerns over a very strong backlash in the community about high toll increases.”

The motion, first tabled at the Legislative Council in January, was abruptly withdrawn by Frank Chan in a face-saving U-turn due to strong political dissent.

Politicians across the spectrum, aware of looming district council elections down the road, fear losing voter support if they backed the unpopular plan, intended to ease chronic congestion by realigning fees in the city’s three cross-harbour tunnels.

The plan proposed raising fees at the publicly operated Cross-Harbour Tunnel and Eastern Harbour Tunnel while lowering them for the privately run Western Harbour Tunnel, which is currently underused because of its higher charges.

Citing the transport minister, Ben Chan said there would be two minor changes that would not affect the originally-proposed tolls. The increase would be allocated to a smart fund for tunnel motorists to upgrade their vehicles’ safety and the government would carry out a comprehensive review of all cross-harbour tunnel tolls after it took back the ownership of the Western Harbour Tunnel in 2023.

“We told them we have difficulties supporting the plan at this moment,” Ben Chan said.

“We asked them to conduct active lobbying in the community. If the government gains a considerable degree of support, then the DAB will reconsider our position. We can’t say we will oppose it now, it all depends on the outcome of the government’s lobbying.”

The new tolls, subject to legislative amendments and funding approval from the Finance Committee, are planned to take effect from January 1, 2020.

Private cars would pay HK$40 (US$5.10) for the Cross-Harbour Tunnel and Eastern Harbour Tunnel – up from HK$20 and HK$25. Using the western route would cost HK$50 – HK$20 less than the current charge.

Ben Chan added that in case of the plan being voted down, his party offered a counter proposal, calling for the government to provide a full tunnel toll subsidy for public buses and minibuses to divert the tunnel traffic and rein in toll increases at the two public tunnels.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting said since the revised plan did not reduce the toll levels, they would oppose the move.

“The revised plan hasn’t lowered the toll increases for the Cross-Harbour and Eastern Harbour Tunnels. We find it hard to support it as the increases are too much. For example, the Cross-Harbour Tunnel toll for private cars will be doubled to HK$40. It is really hard for the public to swallow,” he said.

Legislator Michael Tien Puk-sun said he now had doubts about the toll plan after the opening of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass, due to a design flaw of connecting roads that caused more congestion at the Western Tunnel.

“The proposal will further lower the Western Harbour Tunnel tolls, which will attract more private cars. I am afraid the congestion at this tunnel will be much worse than before,” he said.

“The government needs to identify some solutions before pushing ahead with this plan.”