Minutes of the 8thMeeting of

Traffic and Transport Committee (2012-13)

Central and Western District Council

Date / : / 18 April 2013
Time / : / 2:30 pm
Venue / : / Conference Room
14/F., HarbourBuilding
38 Pier Road, Central, Hong Kong

Present:Chairlady

Ms CHENG Lai-king*

Members

Mr CHAN Chit-kwai, BBS, JP (2:30 pm – 5:48 pm)

Mr CHAN Choi-hi*

Mr CHAN Ho-lim, Joseph*

Mr CHAN Hok-fung*

Mr CHEUNG Kwok-kwan (2:43 pm – 5:55 pm)

Mr CHEUNG Yick-hung, Jackie(2:30 pm – 4:30 pm)

Mr IP Kwok-him, GBS, JP(2:30 pm– 4:18 pm)

Mr KAM Nai-wai, MH*

Dr Malcolm LAM(2:30 pm – 5:16 pm)

Mr LEE Chi-hang, Sidney (2:30 pm–6:10 pm)

Miss LO Yee-hang*

Mr MAN Chi-wah, MH(3:41 pm – end of the meeting)

Mr NG Siu-keung, Thomas, MH*
Miss SIU Ka-yi*

Mr WONG Kin-shing*

Mr YIP Wing-shing, BBS, MH, JP*

Co-opted Members

Mr CHAN Chi-shing(3:09 pm – end of the meeting)

Mr LI Po-ming(2:30 pm – 4:27 pm)

Mr LI Wang-fung(2:35 pm – 6:30 pm)

Mr LUI Hung-pan(2:30 pm – 6:25 pm)

Ms WONG Mi-hing, Shirley(2:38 pm – end of the meeting)

Remarks: *Members that attended the whole meeting

( )The time of attendance of the Member

Guests
Item 4
Mr CHIU Cheuk-siu / Senior Engineer 2/Central Wanchai Bypass, Highways Department
Mr YU Hing-wai / Senior Resident Engineer, AECOM Asia Company Limited
Mr WONG Tsan-kwong / Project Manager, Leighton Contractors (Asia) Limited
Item 5
Mr YAU Shing-mu, JP / Under Secretary for Transport and
Housing, Transport and Housing Bureau
Miss LAM Yuk-ting, Gillian / Assistant Secretary for Transport and Housing(Transport), Transport and Housing Bureau
Mr LOO Khim-chung, Anthony
Mr Michael C. CLARK
Mr Billy WONG
/ Assistant Commissioner/Planning, Transport Department
Principal Consultant, Wilbur Smith Associates Limited
Associate, Wilbur Smith Associates Limited
Item 6
Mr YAU Shing-mu, JP / Under Secretary for Transport and
Housing, Transport and Housing Bureau
/ Under Secretary for Transport and
Housing, Transport and Housing Bureau
Miss WONG Ming-wai, Winnie
Mr TAM Hon-choi
Mr CHAN Cheuk-ming
Mr Perran COAK
Mr Albert TSE
Mr Karl CHEUK / Principal Assistant Secretary for Transport and Housing (Transport)3, Transport and Housing Bureau
Government Engineer/Railway Development 2, Highways Department
Chief Engineer/Railway Development 2-2,
Highways Department
Associate Director, AECOM Asia Company Limited
Senior Engineer, AECOM Asia Company Limited
Associate Director, MVA Hong Kong Limited
Item 7
Miss PO Pui-man, Karen
Miss TSUI Shuk-ting, Yvonne
Mr WONG Wai-lam, William
Mr Simon WONG
Mr Brian NG
Ms Charlize LIU
MrPhilip WONG
Mr Vincent NGAI / Senior Transport Officer, Bus and Railway Branch, Transport Department
Senior Transport Officer/Central and Western, Transport Department
Environmental Protection Officer(Mobile Source), Environmental Protection Department
Planning and Scheduling Manager, New World First Bus/Citybus
Senior Planning Officer, New World First Bus/Citybus
Public Affairs Manager, New World First Bus/Citybus
Operations Manager, Citybus
Operations Manager, New World First Bus
Item 8
Miss LEUNG Cheuk-lam, Shirley
Mr CHENG Wai-kin / Engineer/Central and Western 3, Transport Department
District Operations Officer (Western), Hong Kong Police Force
Mr LAU Wing-fu / Officer-in-Charge, District Traffic Team (Western District), Hong Kong Police Force
Item 9
Mr David C K WONG
Mr Kelvin K K KOO / Operations Manager, Hong Kong Tramways Limited
Senior Maintenance Engineer, Hong Kong Tramways Limited
Item 10
Mr LOK Chun-chung, Francis / Engineer/Central and Western 1, Transport Department
Item 11
Ms YEUNG Lok-kei, Kiki
Mr CHENG Wai-kin
Mr LAU Wing-fu / Engineer/Special Duties, Transport Department
District Operations Officer (Western), Hong Kong Police Force
Officer-in-Charge, District Traffic Team (Western District), Hong Kong Police Force
Item 12
Miss TSUI Shuk-ting, Yvonne / Senior Transport Officer/Central and Western, Transport Department
Item 13
Miss LEUNG Cheuk-lam, Shirley / Engineer/Central and Western 3, Transport Department

In Attendance:

Miss CHOW Ho-kiu, Cheryl, JP
Miss KEI Lai-ting, Grace / District Officer (Central and Western)
Assistant District Officer (Central and Western)
Ms WONG Ming-wai / Senior Executive Officer (District Council),
Central and Western District Office
Ms YEUNG Lai-ching, Regent / Senior Executive Officer (District Management),
Central and Western District Office
Miss TSUI Shuk-ting, Yvonne
Mr LOK Chun-chung, Francis
Mr LAM Shu-kee, Philip / Senior Transport Officer/Central and Western,
Transport Department
Engineer/Central and Western 1, Transport Department
Engineer/Central and Western 2,Transport Department
Miss LEUNG Cheuk-lam, Shirley
Ms YEUNG Lok-kei, Kiki / Engineer/Central and Western 3, Transport Department
Engineer/Special Duties, Transport Department
Mr WAI Hon-kwok / Principal Technical Officer (Traffic)/
Southern and Peak, Transport Department
Mr WONG Chun-hung
Mr LAM Wai-chuen, Eddie
Mr Paul EDMISTON / Senior District Engineer/HNW,
Highways Department
Senior Engineer 7 (Hong KongIsland Division 1), Civil Engineering and Development Department
District Operations Officer (Central District),Hong Kong Police Force
Mr CHAN Kwong-ming
Mr CHENG Wai-kin / Officer-in-Charge, District Traffic Team
(Central District), Hong Kong Police Force
District Operations Officer (Western), Hong Kong Police Force
Mr LAU Wing-fu / Officer-in-Charge, District Traffic Team
(Western District), Hong Kong Police Force
Secretary
Miss CHUNG Yeuk-hung / Executive Officer (District Council) 2, Central and Western District Office

Absent with Apologies:

Mr HUI Chi-fung
Mr LEUNG King-yue, Alex
Mr CHAN Chi-ming, Lawrence / Vice-chairman
Co-opted Member
Senior Engineer/Central andWestern, Transport Department
Welcome Remarks
The Chairlady welcomed Members and representatives from government departments to the 8th meeting of the Traffic and Transport Committee (TTC) (2012-13). She also welcomed Mr CHENG Wai-kin, District Operations Officer (Western) of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF), who succeeded Ms Melinda M Y FONG and Ms Kiki YEUNG, Engineer/Special Duties of the Transport Department (TD), who succeeded Mr LEE Hoo-tin, Stephenand attended the meeting for the first time.
Item 1:Adoption of the agenda
  1. Members had no comment on the agenda and the agenda was adopted.

Item 2: Confirmation of the minutes of the 7thTTC meeting on 31 January 2013
  1. The Chairlady asked Members to take note oftheamendments made to the minutes.
  2. The Committee confirmed the minutes of the 7th meeting of the TTC.
Item 3: Chairlady’s report
  1. As regards the selected Minor Works Projects and their Schedules (as of February 2013), the Secretariat had distributed the report to Members for their perusal before the meeting. The Secretariat had not received any comments from Members.

Item 4: Standing item: Central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor
Link – Report on the progress of the Central Interchange project
(C&W TTC Paper No. 1/2013)
(2:34 pm – 2:40 pm)
  1. Mr CHIU Cheuk-siu, Senior Engineer 2/Central Wanchai Bypass of the Highways Department (HyD) reported on the works progress of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link - Central Interchange Project. He said that the works on the tunnels and the tunnel link roadswent smoothly. In the next six months, excavation and structural works would continue. Moreover,the foundation works of a flyover at the portal would be carried out and the flyover at Man Po Street would be widened. He indicated that the Central Interchange Project went smoothly and was scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2016. The works of the remaining sections of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass project would continue. The Bypass was scheduled for commissioning in 2017. He indicated that temporary traffic diversion measures would be cancelled gradually upon completion of the project and the original traffic arrangements would resume. The relevant arrangements were still under discussion and the HyD would inform the Committee of the latest arrangements as soon as possible
  2. The Chairladyasked the HyD if the project was on schedule and whether it was possible to open the Bypass to traffic in advance. The Chairlady invited Members to discuss the paper. Questions and views of Members were as follows:
(a)Mr KAM Nai-wai said that the traffic diversion arrangements at theFinance Street area were confusing and there were no clear instructions to direct drivers to the car park of the International Financial Centre.
(b)Mr CHAN Choi-hi enquired the HyD in which quarter of 2017 the Central-Wan Chai Bypass would be open to traffic.
  1. Mr CHIU Cheuk-siu reiterated that the project was on schedule and the Central Interchange Project was anticipated to complete in the third quarter of 2016. The works of the remaining sections of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass project would continue and the Bypass would be open to traffic in the fourth quarter of 2017 as scheduled. In response to Mr KAM Nai-wai’s question, he said that the temporary traffic diversions at Finance Street Easthad been implemented since 2011 and the Traffic Management Liaison Group (TMLG) met almost every month to review the arrangements. The HyD would report the results of the review to the Secretariat later.
  2. Mr CHAN Choi-hiasked the HyD for the schedule of meetings of the TMLG and requested that Members of the Central and Western District Council (C&WDC) be allowed to be in attendanceat the meetings.
  3. Mr CHIU Cheuk-siu said that members of the TMLG included representatives of the HyD, HKPF, TD, contractors and consultants. He welcomed Members to give comments on the traffic arrangements and the HyD would reflect their viewsat the meetings.
  4. The Chairlady concluded the discussion and requested the HyD to submit the schedule of TMLG meetings and plansto solve the problem of inadequate signs at Finance Streetafter the meeting. The Chairlady thanked the guests for attending the meeting.
Item 5: Proposed measures to improve the traffic distribution among the road harbour crossings
(C&W TTC Paper No. 17/2013)
(2:45 pm – 3:47 pm)
  1. Mr YAU Shing-mu,Under Secretary for Transport and Housing of the Transport and Housing Bureau (THB) said that the Government conducted a three-month public consultation on proposed measures to improve the traffic distribution among the road harbour crossings(RHCs) starting from 8 February 2013. He pointed out that all the three improvement options proposed by the Government adopted the principle of reducing the tolls at the Eastern Harbour Crossing (EHC) and raising the tolls at the Cross Harbour Tunnel (CHT) (the EHC Reduction CHT Increase Option) to alleviate traffic congestion at the CHT. He emphasised that the Government was open-mindedin the three options and pointed out that all the three options could bring about 30% to 40% queue reduction at the CHT during peak hours, such that cross-harbour traffic queues generally would not interfere with non-cross-harbour traffic and the traffic congestion problem at the CHT would be significantly reduced. At the same time, each option could bring about economic benefits of around $500 million per year and could bring positive effects to environmental protection.
  2. Mr Anthony LOO, Assistant Commissioner/Planning of the TD said that the CHT currently had a daily averagetraffic throughput of about 120000 vehicles that exceeded the tunnel’s designcapacity by 54%. During peak hours, cross-harbour queues there would block non-cross-harbour traffic. With an overall increase in the gross domestic product and consumer price index, the CHT had not increased its tolls since 1999. From a resource management perspective, tolls payable by heavy vehicles in using the CHT were relatively cheap, hence attracting a large number of vehicles to use the CHT. On the other hand, the EHC had a daily average traffic throughput of about 70000 vehicles. Despite an increased number of vehicles during peak hours, the traffic flow was generally smooth. The conduits of the Western Harbour Crossing (WHC) were in fact operating with spare capacity, yet its connecting roads such as the section from Hong Kong Island Exit to Central had inadequate capacity. The Central-Wanchai Bypass planned as the connecting road of the WHC would not come into operation until 2017, posing further constraints to the capacity of the WHC. The three options proposed by the Government were based on the principle of “EHC Reduction CHT Increase”, aiming to attract around 4000-5000 marginal users to switch to the EHC every day. The purpose was to reduce the traffic queue at the CHT’s entrances by 30% to 40% during peak hours. He briefly introduced the following three options to the Committee.
i.Option A
The option involved reducing EHC private car toll by $5 and increasing CHT private car toll by $5. The tolls payable by other vehicle types at the CHT would be increased in accordance with the resource management principle, so as to reflect the road space occupied as well as the wear and tear caused on the road by these vehicles as appropriate. The tolls payable by other vehicle types at the EHC would be reduced correspondingly such that the tolls would be closer to CHT tolls after adjustment. Users of private cars would benefit more under this option.
ii.Option B
The option involved reducing EHC private car toll by $5 and increasing CHT private car toll by $5. The tolls payable by other vehicles at both tunnels would be proportionally adjusted in accordance with their original toll structure respectively (with no change in toll structure).
iii.Option C
Based on the feedback received during the last round of public consultation, the option proposed to reduceEHC private car toll by $5 while increasingCHT private car toll by $10. The tolls for public transport vehicles would be frozen. As for goods vehicles, the reduction in tolls at the EHC is larger than the increase in tolls at the CHT, the differential of which is the largest among the three options. Therefore, Option C minimised the impact on the public and transport trade, while goods vehicle users would benefit more under Option C among the three options.
  1. Mr Anthony LOO said that the economic benefits mentioned in the paper included shortened travel time for users, savings in fuel costs and vehicle maintenance fees. He reiterated that the purpose of the Government’s suggestions was to alleviate the traffic congestion atthe CHT without imposing too much burden on the EHC. If the Government only reduced EHC tolls and maintained the status quo for CHT tolls (for instance, reducing the private car toll atthe EHC by $10 and adjusting those of other types of vehicles proportionally), it would not only attract 2900 vehicles from the CHT to EHC, but would also attract 4100 vehicles from the WHC to CHT, making the present situation worse by causing congestion at both the EHC and CHT. Therefore, the toll reduction at the EHC must be complemented by toll increase at the CHT. He indicated that the Government could conduct a 12-month trial in the second half of 2014 at the earliest to test the effectiveness of the options.
  2. The Chairlady invited Members to discuss the paper. Questions and views of Members were as follow:
(a)Mr CHAN Hok-fung appreciated the Government’s attempt to solve the congestion problem atRHCsbut was dissatisfied that the Government overloaded the paper with statistics and that the WHC was not included in the three proposed options. He said that the CHT was geographicallywell-located and members of the public would not switch from the CHT to EHCsimply because of the slight toll differential. He pointed out that the main problem was the exceedingly high tolls at the WHC, which droveevenresidents of New Territories West and Kowloon West to use the CHT instead of the WHC. He suggested reducingthe tolls at the WHC for Kowloon-bound vehicles to attract residents of New Territories West and Kowloon West to use the WHC when leaving Hong KongIsland, indirectly diverting traffic flow in CausewayBay and Wan Chai.
(b)Mr KAM Nai-wai believed that the main problem lay in the exceedingly high tolls at the WHC. He said that although he lived in the Mid-levels, he would still prefer using the CHT during off-peak hours to save around $15 to $20. He was worried that the shortened queue as a result of the increase in tolls at the CHT would in turn attract more drivers to use the tunnel. He thought that people from the Central and Western (C&W) District, Southern District and Wan Chai District would not switch to the EHC due to geographical reasons. He personally opposed the three options proposed by the Government and agreed with Mr CHAN Hok-fung’s suggestion. He considered that the Government should conduct a trial run of reducing the tolls at the WHC of Kowloon-bound vehiclesto test the effectiveness.
(c)Mr CHAN Chit-kwai did not oppose the three options proposed by the Government. However, he considered that all the three RHCs were essential, thus excluding the WHC in the consultation would constrain the actual benefits brought by the options. He doubted if the statistics provided by the Government could reflect the actual situation. The CHT was more desirable in terms of geographical location, connecting roads and traffic signs. In addition, many drivers had got used to using the CHT. The Government therefore should put into consideration the habitsof drivers when formulating the improvement options.