$8 Kowloon toll, higher fees and fines for drivers
Tolls for Aberdeen and Shing Mun tunnels are set to be raised to $8 from $5 from September 21. File photo: RTHK
Hourly charges for parking meters will be doubled from HK$8 to HK$16, stating from September 28. File photo: RTHK
The government on Wednesday proposed setting a toll of $8 on a new Kowloon tunnel and raising fixed penalties on 20 traffic offences.
Last month, officials publicised plans to charge drivers $10 for using the Central Kowloon Bypass.
The proposed toll level will effectively divert approximately 20 per cent of the overall traffic from saturated major roads in Kowloon, while reserving about 15 per cent of spare capacity of the Central Kowloon Bypass to accommodate future traffic growth. It will also recover nearly 80 per cent of basic operational costs, the Transport and Logistics Bureau said in a statement.
The spokesman said the bypass, connecting Yau Ma Tei and Kowloon Bay, will offer a faster option for motorists when it opens next year.
'If no toll is charged for the use of the Central Kowloon Bypass, it is expected that its utilisation rate will approach a saturation point shortly after its commissioning,' he said.
Tolls for Aberdeen and Shing Mun tunnels are proposed to be raised to $8 from $5 from September 21, with the spokesman pointing out that their toll fees had stayed at the same level for 34 years and that they were operating at a loss.
The adjustments will have minimal impact on traffic and will allow the tunnels to achieve break-even in operations, the spokeman said.
Apart from the proposed rise in the fixed penalty for illegal parking from $320 to $400, charges for 19 other traffic violations will be increased to up to $1,500.
On the proposed increases, the spokesman said most charges for traffic violations had not been adjusted for 31 years, saying the deterrent effect has deteriorated over time due to inflation.
Hourly charges for parking meters will also be doubled from $8 to $16, starting from September 28.
The government is also proposing a gradual five-phase increase in license fees for electric vehicles that will span six years.
Following the change, electric vehicles will be charged based on their rated power rather than vehicle weight.
Currently, the annual license fee for all electric cars is about $1,100 on average.
By March 2030, the fee for cars with fewer than 75 kilowatts would go up to $3,000, while those exceeding 225 kW would be charged $11,000.
There will be a four-month grace period for electric vehicles on the road when the adjustments begin in November.
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