Minutes of the 7Th Meeting of the Transport Affairs Committee of Sham Shui Po District Council (5Th Term)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
(Translation) Minutes of the 7th Meeting of the Transport Affairs Committee of Sham Shui Po District Council (5th Term) Date: 16 February 2017 (Thursday) Time: 9:30 a.m. Venue: Conference Room, Sham Shui Po District Council Present Chairman Mr CHENG Wing-shun, Vincent, MH Members Mr CHAN Kwok-wai Mr CHAN Wai-ming, MH Ms CHAN Wing-yan, Joephy Mr CHEUNG Wing-sum, Ambrose, BBS, MH, JP (Arrived at 10:20 a.m.) Ms CHOW Wing-heng, Zoé (Arrived at 10:07 a.m.; left at 1:20 p.m.) Mr CHUM Tak-shing (Arrived at 12:10 p.m.) Mr HO Kai-ming, Kalvin Mr KONG Kwai-sang (Arrived at 11:05 a.m.; left at 12:30 p.m.) Mr LAM Ka-fai, Aaron, BBS, JP (Arrived at 9:45 a.m.; left at 10:25 a.m.) Ms LAU Pui-yuk Mr LEE Tsz-king, Dominic (Arrived at 9:40 a.m.) Mr LEE Wing-man Mr LEUNG Man-kwong Ms NG Mei, Carman Ms NG Yuet-lan Mr TAM Kwok-kiu, MH, JP Mr WAI Woon-nam Mr YAN Kai-wing (Arrived at 9:45 a.m.; left at 11 a.m.) Mr YEUNG Yuk Mr YUEN Hoi-man (Left at 1:17 p.m.) Co-opted Members Mr CHAN Ming-kei (Arrived at 9:55 a.m.) Mr LI Chun-hei, Joshua (Left at 1:10 p.m.) - 2 - Action by In Attendance Ms Man Ka-wing, Kelly Assistant District Officer (Sham Shui Po) 1 Mr LAU Kin-hei, Louis Senior Transport Officer/Sham Shui Po, Transport Department Mr CHIU Chi-min, Edward Engineer/Sham Shui Po, Transport Department Mr LEE Chung-yam, Paul Engineer/Planning 1, Transport Department Mr CHANG Yiu-wa District Engineer/Lai Chi Kok, Highways Department Mr KONG Wai-fung, Ryan Officer in-charge of District Traffic Team, Sham Shui Po District, Hong Kong Police Force Mr AU YEUNG Chung-ching Officer in-charge of District Traffic Team, Sham Shui Po District, Hong Kong Police Force Ms AYALA Yi-sum, Sammi Senior Transport Officer/Railway 5, Transport Department Mr KWOK Yu-fung, Samuel Transport Officer/Railway 5, Transport Department Mr WONG Hon-chung Planning and Operation Arrangement Manager, New World First Bus Limited Mr PANG Chun-ho Assistant Planning Officer, New World First Bus Limited Mr SO Man-wah Manager (Operations), The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited Ms WONG Sau-kuen Manager (Planning and Development), The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited Ms Lilian YEUNG Public Relations Manager, External Affairs, MTR Corporations Limited Ms LAI Suet-yan, Janice Senior Transport Officer/Bus/Kowloon, Transport Department Ms SIN Kai-wai, Marie Senior Transport Officer/Bus & Railway/Special Duties, Transport Department Mr CHEUNG Tin, Larry Transport Officer/Bus/Kowloon, Transport Department Mr CHAN Chi-ming, Lawrence Senior Engineer/Special Duties, Transport Department Mr LEE Sai-hang, Kenneth Engineer/Special Duties 1, Transport Department Mr CHAU Lap-kong Senior Engineer/Covered Walkway 2, Transport Department Ms YEUNG Sai-hee Senior Engineer 4/Universal Accessibility, Highways Department Mr CHOCK Chi-tung Engineer 3/Universal Accessibility, Highways Department Mr NG Wai-keung Chief Engineer 1/Major Works, Highways Department Ms O Fong-wah, Juli Senior Engineer 1/Universal Accessibility, Highways Department Ms YEUNG Kwai-fong Project Coordinator 1/Universal Accessibility, Highways Department - 3 - Action by Mr LUI So-yin Resident Senior Engineer, Parsons Brinckerhoff (Asia) Limited Mr CHUNG Wai-kin Project Manager, Parsons Brinckerhoff (Asia) Limited Secretary Mr Chan Wing-ho, Patrick Executive Officer (District Council) 3, Sham Shui Po District Office Absent Members Mr LEUNG Yau-fong Mr WONG Tat-tung, Dennis, MH, JP Co-opted Member Ms TSE Hiu-hung - 4 - Action by Opening Remarks The Chairman welcomed members and representatives of government departments to the seventh meeting of the Transport Affairs Committee (“TAC”) of the fifth term Sham Shui Po District Council, and welcomed Ms Kelly MAN, Assistant District Officer (Sham Shui Po) 1, to attend the meetings from now on in place of Miss CHAN Pui-ki, Kiki, who had been transferred out. Agenda Item 1: Confirmation of the minutes of the 6th meeting held on 8 December 2016 2. The Committee confirmed the above minutes without amendment. Agenda Item 2 : Matters for discussion (a) Request for MTRC to improve barrier-free facilities in MTR station Propose to provide escalator at Exit G of Mei Foo MTR Station (TAC Pape 5/17) 3. Mr Joshua LI introduced Paper 5/17 4. Ms Lilian YEUNG responded as follows: (i) MTRC had been closely observing the situations at the exits of MTR Mei Foo Station, and provided Paid Passageway Validator at Exit G of the station recently so that passengers could use the passageways in the station and walk between exits of the station within 20 minutes free of charge; (ii) there were upward escalator and staircase at Exit G for the passengers. As Exit G was near Exit F, passengers in need could use the lift near Exit F to go to the podium garden and concourse; (iii) different factors such as geographical environment, station and passenger flow, etc. had to be considered for the provision of facilities at stations. Mei Foo Station, which was built many years ago, was limited by space and geographical environment, thus limited the feasibility on the provision of facilities; (iv) MTR Corporations Limited (“MTRC”) noted members’ views and would refer to them when reviewing the facilities at the station in the future. 5. Ms NG Yuet-lan said that MTRC promised the provision of barrier-free facilities at Exit A of MTR Mei Foo Station some time ago and she wanted to know the progress. 6. Mr Joshua LI said that he thanked MTRC for the provision of Paid Passageway Validator at Exit G of MTR Mei Foo Station. As Exit G was situated in the new station of West Rail, he hoped that MTRC would provide a downward escalator there to facilitate passengers using the validator. 7. Ms Lilian YEUNG responded as follows: (i) MTRC understood the views of members and residents on the provision of barrier-free facilities (in particular lifts) at Exit A of MTR Mei Foo Station. MTRC had been studying the feasibilities carefully and - 5 - Action by would inform the District Council (“DC”) when there was progress; (ii) currently, there were staircase and escalator at Exit G and there was also a lift at Exit F nearby, which could satisfy passengers’ needs. MTRC noted members’ views and would refer to them when reviewing the facilities of the station in the future. 8. The Chairman concluded that he hoped MTRC would study the provision of escalator at Exit G of Mei Foo Station to provide convenience to residents. (b) Changes in travelling pattern of passengers upon the opening of Kwun Tong Line Extension and the latest arrangements of the Public Transport Re-organisation Plan (TAC Paper 6/17) 9. Ms Sammi AYALA introduced Paper 6/17. 10. Mr WAI Woon-nam raised the following views: (i) since residents in the area of Fu Cheong Estate, Nam Cheong Estate and Lai Chi Kok Road often took route 212 to go to Kwong Wah Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital; hence the route should be kept; (ii) although it was proposed in the paper that the original passengers of route 212 could choose to take other routes, or take the MTR and then walk or change bus to go to hospitals, most of the passengers who went to hospitals were patients or visitors and they might find it tiring to interchange frequently, (iii) it was pointed out in the paper that the patronage of route 212 fell suddenly after the opening of Kwun Tong Line Extension (“KTE”) but it did not indicate which section of the journey had a fall in patronage; (iv) KMB could consider improving the alternative proposal. For example, the forward trip of bus route 6F could travel along Tonkin Street and go to Lai Chi Kok Road via Sham Mong Road and Yen Chow Street with an improved return route so that the original passengers of route 212 would find it easy to travel to and from hospitals. 11. Mr LEUNG Man-kwong raised the following views: (i) when the Transport Department (“TD”) proposed cancelling route 212 after the opening of KTE last year, three DCs in Kowloon West raised objections to that. When TD put forward the proposal again this year, two other DCs opposed it and so did the residents in Sham Shui Po District (“SSP District”); (ii) KMB’s reduction of the frequency of route 212 would force passengers to switch to other means of transportation, resulting in further reduction in patronage; (iii) many passengers took route 212 to go to the Kwong Wah Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Yau Ma Tei Clinic for follow-up consultations; (iv) the housing developments on the superstructure of Nam Cheong MTR Station and at Site 6 would be completed one after the other and the demand for route 212 might increase as a result; (v) the Department should provide specific figures on the patronage reduction of route 212, e.g. age groups of passengers and the route sections where they board the bus. The Department could also consider using single-decker bus or adjust the frequency instead of cancelling the route; (vi) at the current stage, no alternative proposal for route 212 would be accepted. The route had to be kept. - 6 - Action by 12. Ms Joephy CHAN raised the following views: (i) according to TD’s data, the patronage of some bus routes (e.g. 230X, 6C and 18) increased after the opening of KTE, which showed that TD should listen to the views of TAC carefully; (ii) she hoped that the Department could provide further details on the changes in patronage, e.g.