As one of the world's most densely populated cities, Hong Kong faces unique challenges in providing a safe, efficient and reliable transport system to meet the economic, social and recreational needs of the community in an environmentally acceptable manner.
Limited land and financial resources, higher population forecasts, rapidly increasing cross-boundary traffic and greater concern about the environment all need to be taken into account in devising any medium to long-range transport strategy for Hong Kong.
In August 1997, the Government commissioned a Third Comprehensive Transport Study (CTS-3) to develop a balanced transport plan for Hong Kong well into the next century. The study was completed in September 1999 and forms the basis of our latest strategy. It builds on the excellent foundations of the 1990 White Paper on Transport Policy which concentrated on the continued development of Hong Kong's transport system under a three-pronged approach:
Hong Kong Moving Ahead focuses on:
Some of the initiatives will not only affect the way in which people move about Hong Kong, but will also affect the way in which various transport modes are accessed. This may mean walking to work instead of taking a taxi, taking a tram instead of a car, driving to a train station instead of driving to work.
The challenge now for the Government and the community is to ensure that the same safe, efficient and reliable transport system is not only maintained in the years ahead but improved significantly. We owe it to our next generation to rise to this challenge and maintain Hong Kong as Asia's premier international city.
Better Integration Of Transport And Land Use Planning
Our Objective: Transport infrastructure will be provided in a timely and cost-effective manner, with due regard for the environment.
Integrating transport and land use planning can reduce the public's reliance on road-based transport, which in turn alleviates the demands put on the transport system and lessens the impact on the environment. Greater emphasis will be placed on the needs of pedestrians in transport and land use planning. Initiatives to be pursued include:
Despite these initiatives, increases in population and economic activity will place additional demands on existing and future transport systems, making it vitally important to provide new systems, and improve existing infrastructure, in a timely manner. This will be achieved by:
Review of Transport Infrastructure
CTS-3 has recommended a number of strategic highways with indicative timing for their implementation. However, the actual need for individual projects and the exact timing of the implementation may vary with changes to the economy, population growth, scale of reclamation, port development etc. We need to regularly review the implementation programme of these projects before substantial funds are committed to have them built.
Cross-boundary traffic
Cross boundary passenger and freight traffic is forecast to increase significantly in the years ahead as Hong Kong's economy becomes even more closely interconnected with that of the Mainland, particularly the adjoining Guangdong Province. The planning of infrastructure must take into account future demands in cross boundary passenger and freight movements. We need to provide new rail and road crossings and examine the feasibility of a port rail line for longer distance travel. The new Sheung Shui to Lok Ma Chau Spur Line, which is being fast-tracked for completion in 2004, will provide the much-needed relief at the Lo Wu rail crossing.
A new road link with Guangdong Province - the Shenzhen V Hong Kong Western Corridor - is targeted for completion by 2005. At the same time, a number of measures will be introduced to increase efficiency at the existing cross-boundary vehicle checkpoints. We will consider the possibility of extending operating hours and streamlining vehicle quota control, increasing staff resources and kiosks, enhancing co-operation and co-ordination with Mainland authorities to remove bottlenecks and introducing special traffic management programmes.
Better Use Of Railways
Our Objective: Railways will form the backbone of Hong Kong's transport system.
Railways are environmentally friendly and efficient mass carriers. Locating future strategic developments along rail alignments will reduce reliance on road-based transport, enhance the efficiency of the rail network, and ensure affordable fare levels.
Railway 'trunk lines' will be supplemented by 'feeder' services using other public transport modes. Park-and-ride facilities will be developed.
The existing railway network will be expanded over the next five years by about 40 per cent to more than 200 kilometres. And planning has already begun for the next generation of railway projects to meet Hong Kong's needs up to 2016. By that time it is expected that 40 to 50 per cent of all public transport journeys will be made on the environmentally-friendly railway system, compared to 33 per cent at present.
Major projects coming on line between 2002 and 2004 and costing HK$100 billion are:
Better Public Transport Services And Facilities
Our Objective: Public transport services should be operated efficiently by the private sector, or public corporations, without direct Government subsidy; and should be well co-ordinated to maximise efficiency.
Hong Kong is a highly mobile city that depends on an efficient and affordable public transport system. Each day, almost 11 million passenger journeys are made on our network of trains, buses, minibuses, taxis, trams and ferries.
However, the system needs to be upgraded by rationalising and improving co-ordination of public transport services to better match demand, minimising wasteful competition and duplication of effort and curtailing, in some cases, low demand services.
Convenient and comfortable interchange facilities at transport hubs, especially railway stations, will be included in plans for new and major land-use or transport developments. Existing interchange facilities will be upgraded.
For the various transport modes :
Franchised buses will play a more prominent role in feeding passengers to the railways. Unnecessary duplication generated by point-to-point services will be reduced through the use of conveniently located interchange facilities. New bus routes need careful selection.
Taxis provide a personal, door-to-door service, but are uneconomical road users. New taxi licences will be issued only if justified by passenger demand and road capacity.
Ferries will continue to provide essential links to the outlying island and an alternative service to some new towns, but services will be reviewed having regard to commuters' expectations and increasing competition from road and rail transport.
Trams will remain a cheap and convenient service on Hong Kong Island, but will need to keep pace with public aspirations.
Public light bus numbers and role will be maintained. We will continue to encourage the conversion of more red minibuses to the scheduled green minibus services.
Private car users will be encouraged to switch to public transport. Park-and-ride facilities will be developed at major transport interchanges on the fringe of urban areas. These facilities will be more effective when combined with traffic restraint measures which may have to be considered.
Better Use Of New Technologies
Our Objective: The use of new technologies will be encouraged to increase the efficiency of traffic management, improve the overall capacity of the road system, and enhance road safety.
Intelligent Transport Systems will be investigated for a range of applications including:
Road safety will continue to be promoted through a three-pronged approach: traffic engineering measures; legislation and enforcement; publicity and education.
Better Environmental Protection
Our Objective: Transport infrastructure and services will be provided in an environmentally acceptable manner to ensure the sustainable development of Hong Kong.
The quality of life in Hong Kong is directly related to the quality of the environment. On the transport front, air pollution and noise pollution are the two major concerns. Various measures can mitigate the environmental impact of transport activities.
These include:
Harnessing Community Support
Our Objective: Greater efforts will be made to explain the importance of an environmentally sustainable transport system for Hong Kong and the need for public support in this endeavour.
Public support and understanding is vital in taking forward the transport strategy blueprint.
The Government's long-term aims are to develop a transport system that meets or exceeds community expectations, and contributes towards the sustainable development of Hong Kong.
We all need to be more aware that our individual transport choices have a direct bearing on the health of the community, economic efficiency and pollution levels.
Publicity and education programmes will be stepped up to highlight these issues.
Further information
Copies of the Transport Strategy, "Hong Kong Moving Ahead: A transport strategy for the future" are available at Licencing Offices of the Transport Department.