Latest news with #TheTransportDepartment
RTHK
6 days ago
- Business
- RTHK
Transport official defends Central Kowloon Route toll
Transport official defends Central Kowloon Route toll The Transport Department says a toll for Central Kowloon Route wasn't brought up in the past because building a toll plaza in urban areas would have been difficult. File photo: RTHK The Transport Department said on Monday that technology has enabled officials to charge drivers who'll be using a new Kowloon tunnel. Last week, officials publicised plans to charge drivers of all types of vehicles $10 for using the Central Kowloon Route when it's fully completed in the middle of next year. Several lawmakers were unhappy with the move as officials had not apprised them of the possibility of implementing tolls when the project was first mooted. Speaking on RTHK, assistant transport commissioner Leung Sai-ho said the project has been in the pipeline for years and that back then the SAR didn't have HKeToll or any other electronic toll charging system. He said it would've been undesirable to build a toll plaza, as was the practice then, in the busy areas of Kowloon. "Back in the day you always needed a toll plaza to collect tolls," Leung said. "If you had built one in the urban areas, it would have taken up a lot of space, affecting many buildings. "Not that I'm saying you needed to knock some down, but at least it'd have limited the room for urban development. "So back in the day, it wasn't even possible to [consider charging] users of the Central Kowloon Route, that's why we never brought up the topic." Some lawmakers have counter-proposed implementing a charge of $8 instead of $10, and Leung stressed officials would continue to listen to views. But he said setting the level at $10 would leave the tunnel with an estimated 20 percent of unused capacity during peak hours, which could be handy for accommodating more traffic when future new towns are completed. The 4.7 km long dual 3-lane trunk road connects Yau Ma Tei and Kowloon Bay, including a tunnel of about 3.9km long. Leung also said proposals to raise tolls for Aberdeen and Shing Mun tunnels from $5 to $8 would enable the government to cut the operating deficit for the two crossings. He went on to say money wasn't the only issue for officials when reviewing tunnel tolls. For example, Leung said, they dropped the idea of raising charges for the loss-making Eagle's Nest Tunnel because that would've only encouraged drivers to go back to using the busy Lion Rock Tunnel.
RTHK
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- RTHK
Visually impaired to walk to new beep at crossings
Visually impaired to walk to new beep at crossings The Transport Department says all electronic audible traffic signal units are expected to be replaced by late 2027. Photo: RTHK The Transport Department said on Tuesday it has started replacing all of Hong Kong's electronic audible traffic signal units since April to provide greater convenience for visually impaired persons. The department launched a pilot scheme in 2021, which saw new units put in place at more than 20 crossings across the city to test their performance. It said 13,000 replacements are needed due to most of the existing units having been in use for more than 20 years, which far exceeds their expected lifespan of 10 years. 'Some of the electronic audible traffic signal units' fault rates are on the rise, causing higher maintenance costs," the department's chief engineer, Gordon Kwok, said. "So we would like to replace them and at the same time include some new functions that are more adaptable to users.' Kwok said new features have been incorporated into the system, such as tactile maps to provide layout information on the crossing and voice messages that read out the names of the streets near the crossing in Cantonese, Putonghua and English. Karl Lee, who is visually impaired, said the messages allow him to easily gauge where he is, rather than having to memorise the streets and counting them off when walking. 'For example, if I'm walking up from Nam Cheong Street, I'll have to count off the streets I have crossed, including Yu Chau Street, Apliu Street, Cheung Sha Wan Road,' he said. 'Sometimes I might make mistakes, and I'll have to ask people where I am. "Having the new machines can help me easily find out which street I'm currently at.' Kwok said a total of 15,000 dedicated wireless devices will be distributed via the Society of the Blind to enable the visually impaired to use the remote control in them to increase the volume of the electronic audible traffic signal units when needed. The department has installed the new electronic audible traffic signal units at 27 crossings so far. All renewals are expected to be completed by the end of 2027.
