Minutes of the 2nd Meeting in 2020 of the Traffic and Transport Committee of Tai Po District Council
Date: 27 April 2020 (Monday) Time: 9:30 a.m. – 6:04 p.m. Venue: Conference Room, Tai Po District Council (“TPDC”)
Present Time of Arrival Time of Withdrawal Chairman Mr. KWAN Wing-yip Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting
Vice-chairman Mr. MAN Nim-chi Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting
Members Mr. AU Chun-ho Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. AU Chun-wah Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. CHAN Chun-chit, Richard Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Ms. CHAN Wai-ka, Olive Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. CHOW Yuen-wai Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. HO Wai-lam 9:32 a.m. End of the meeting Mr. LAM Ming-yat, Nick 9:32 a.m. End of the meeting Mr. LAM Yick-kuen Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. LAU Yung-wai Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. LIN Kok-cheung, Dalu 9:34 a.m. 5:33 p.m. Mr. SO Tat-leung Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. TAM Yi-pui Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. WONG Siu-kin Beginning of the meeting 4:48 p.m. Mr. WU Yiu-cheong 9:40 a.m. End of the meeting Mr. YAM Kai-bong Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. YIU Kwan-ho Beginning of the meeting 5:33 p.m. Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang 9:45 a.m. End of the meeting
- 2 -
Secretary Ms. SY Ling-ling, Phoebe Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Executive Officer (District Council) 1 / Tai Po District Office (“TPDO”) / Home Affairs Department (“HAD”)
In Attendance
Ms. LEUNG Wing-yin, Tiffany Assistant District Officer (Tai Po) / TPDO / HAD Ms. MA, Flora Senior Transport Officer / Tai Po / Transport Department (“TD”) Ms. HUI Ka-yee, Judy Senior Transport Officer / Bus / New Territories East / TD Ms. SO Pui-man, Coco Transport Officer / Tai Po 1 / TD Mr. YUEN Kin-hang, Tom Transport Officer / Bus / New Territories East / TD Ms. LEE Wing-sum, Summer Engineer / Tai Po 1 / TD Mr. LAM Tack-ho, Alex Engineer / Tai Po 2 / TD Mr. PANG Hiu-fung Engineer / Tai Po 3 / TD Mr. SIU Wai-kwan District Engineer / Tai Po (2) / Highways Department (“HyD”) Ms. SO Pui-yin Assistant Housing Manager / Tenancy (Tai Po, North, Shatin 7) 2 / Housing Department (“HD”) Ms. MAK Pui-yan Engineer / 19 (North) / Civil Engineering and Development Department (“CEDD”) Mr. FAN Wai-ho Operations Officer / Tai Po Police District / Hong Kong Police Force (“HKPF”) Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk Sergeant / Traffic Wing / Tai Po Police District / HKPF Mr. WONG Tsz-kin Manager / Operations / Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (“KMB”) Mr. TAM Tsun-hei, Jeff Manager / Public Affairs / KMB Mr. TANG Ching-kit Assistant Manager / Transport Planning / KMB Mr. KUNG Wing-chun Assistant Manager / Operations / KMB Mr. LAW Yiu-wah, Rayson Senior Planning and Development Officer / Long Win Bus Company Limited (“Long Win”) Mr. WONG, Simon Planning and Scheduling Manager / Citybus Limited (“Citybus”) / New World First Bus Services Limited Ms. CHUNG Pui-yee Chief Public Affairs Officer / Citybus / New World First Bus Services Limited Mr. LEE Yu-sau, Terence Senior Executive Officer (District Council) / TPDO / HAD
- 3 -
Opening Remarks
The Chairman welcomed participants to the Traffic and Transport Committee (“TTC”) meeting.
2. The Chairman welcomed the following officials, who would serve as the permanent departmental and organisational representatives at the TTC meetings from now on:
(i) Ms. MA, Flora, Senior Transport Officer / Tai Po of the TD; (ii) Ms. LEE Wing-sum, Summer, Engineer / Tai Po 1 of the TD; (iii) Mr. LAM Tack-ho, Alex, Engineer / Tai Po 2 of the TD; (iv) Mr. PANG Hiu-fung, Engineer / Tai Po 3 of the TD; (v) Ms. MAK Pui-yan, Engineer / 19 (North) of the CEDD; (vi) Mr. SIU Wai-kwan, District Engineer / Tai Po (2) of the HyD; (vii) Ms. SO Pui-yin, Assistant Housing Manager / Tenancy (Tai Po, North, Shatin 7) 2 of the HD;
(viii) Mr. FAN Wai-ho, Operations Officer / Tai Po Police District of the HKPF; (ix) Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk, Sergeant / Traffic Wing / Tai Po Police District of the HKPF; (x) Ms. LEUNG Wing-yin, Tiffany, Assistant District Officer (Tai Po) / TPDO of the HAD;
(xi) Mr. LEE Yu-sau, Terence, Senior Executive Officer (District Council) / TPDO of the HAD;
(xii) Mr. WONG Tsz-kin, Manager / Operations of KMB; and (xiii) Mr. TANG Ching-kit, Assistant Manager / Transport Planning of KMB.
3. The Chairman said that the TTC had intended to invite the Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited (“MTR”) to attend the TTC meetings regularly. However, the MTR representatives had informed the TPDC Secretariat (“the Secretariat”) on 6 February via e-mail that the MTR would not serve as a permanent representative at the TTC meetings. Nonetheless, if there was any agenda item relating to the MTR, it would attend the meetings wherever possible. He added that before the meeting, Members had invited the MTR to attend this meeting to discuss the conversion of 12- car trains into nine-car trains. However, as the MTR representatives had to attend the TTC meeting in Sha Tin District today, they could only attend our next TTC meeting.
- 4 -
I. Adoption of the TPDC Standing Orders
4. The Chairman said that the TPDC had endorsed the adoption of the TPDC Standing Orders (“Standing Orders”) at the meeting on 7 January 2020. He asked Members to note and comply with the relevant requirements.
II. Adoption of the Guideline on Allocation of District Council Funds
5. The Chairman said that the TPDC had endorsed the Guideline on Allocation of District Council Funds (“the Guideline”) by circulation on 30 March 2020, and the Guideline had come into effect on 1 April 2020. All funding applications of the TPDC would be submitted to the Administration and Finance Management Committee for consideration and approval. He asked Members to note the arrangement.
III. The Transport Department’s Annual Work Plan 2020/21 (TPDC Paper No. TT 13/2020)
6. Ms. Flora MA said that there were two aspects of the TD’s work, namely public transport services and traffic works. For public transport services, the department carried out consultation on bus route planning every year to adjust and enhance bus services. In addition, upon the formation of the relevant working group, the department would also attend meetings to discuss bus and minibus services so as to make improvements. She continued that the traffic engineers of the department would report on the road improvement works and traffic management issues.
7. Ms. Summer LEE said that regarding traffic works, the department was currently carrying out several works projects, including (1) Barrier-free access improvement works on Wai Yan Street; (2) Setting up traffic lights on Chong San Road, Fo Chun Road and Lam Kam Road near Chung Uk Tsuen; and (3) Following the principle of “single site, multiple use” to provide public parking spaces at suitable government, institution or community (“GIC”) facilities and public open space development projects. Meanwhile, the department was planning to provide public parking spaces at two government projects, including Area 1 and Area 33 in Tai Po.
8. Mr. LAM Ming-yat, Nick asked about the completion date of the barrier-free access improvement works on Wai Yan Street.
9. Mr. CHAN Chun-chit, Richard would like to find out the details on the works of Ng Tung Chai roundabout.
- 5 -
10. Mr. YIU Kwan-ho asked about the setting up of traffic lights on Chong San Road / Fo Chun Road and Chong San Road / Fo Shing Road. To his understanding, two sets of traffic lights were supposed to be set up at the road sections concerned, and one had been set up near Malvern College Hong Kong. However, some residents had told him that after that the traffic lights had been set up, there was traffic congestion from the road section concerned to the roundabout (Kowloon-bound) starting from about 9 a.m. In addition, he also asked when the other set of traffic lights would be set up.
11. Mr. YAM Kai-bong said that regarding the provision of public parking spaces under the principle of “single site, multiple use” during the construction of government facilities, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (“LCSD”) had previously mentioned at the District Facilities Management and Culture, Recreation and Sports Committee (“DFMC”) meeting that the football- cum-rugby pitch in Area 33, Tai Po would mainly be used as a car park. He asked whether the TD planned to or when it would report the works progress to the TPDC. Covering a large area, the project could provide over 300 parking spaces and allowed the parking of medium and large vehicles. Therefore, he was highly concerned about the project. In addition, he also asked whether the TD would report on the project on a regular basis, as he had learnt at the DFMC meeting that the LCSD was apparently no longer the lead department of the project anymore. Therefore, he asked the TD about the situation of the project or the ways to follow up on it.
12. Ms. Summer LEE said that regarding the completion date of the barrier-free access facilities on Wai Yan Street, she would leave it to the HyD representatives to give a reply. In addition, the department had also received comments that traffic congestion took place after the setting up of traffic lights on Chong San Road and Fo Chun Road. In this connection, the department had sent staff to look into the situation, and would decide whether to adjust the duration of green light depending on the situation.
13. Mr. Alex LAM said that the situation of the football-cum-rugby pitch in Area 33, Tai Po was basically similar to what Mr. YAM Kai-bong had mentioned. At present, however, he was not sure whether the LCSD was still the lead department of the project. He would provide supplementary information later.
14. Mr. SIU Wai-kwan said that regarding the completion date of the barrier-free access facilities on Wai Yan Street, he did not have the information at present. Therefore, the person-in-charge of the department would provide Mr. Nick LAM with supplementary information after the meeting. In addition, the HyD had launched the works of Ng Tung Chai roundabout and had completed the preliminary technical assessment. However, the assessment showed that the project might affect the stability of the slope nearby. As such, the department had asked the technical departments concerned to assist in the assessment, so as to ascertain the slope’s stability. As more information had to be obtained before the assessment, the department was currently conducting the preparatory work for ground investigation. Given that the project would affect not only the slope’s stability - 6 - but also the trees, the department had also carried out a tree assessment, and the assessment report had been submitted to the departments concerned for approval. He added that as regards the two proposed sets of traffic lights mentioned above, one had been set up and commenced operation on Chong San Road / Fo Chun Road. The department had also commenced setting up the other set of traffic lights on Chong San Road / Fo Shing Road in late March, and expected that they could commence operation in the third quarter of 2020.
15. The Chairman asked Mr. SIU Wai-kwan to contact Mr. Nick LAM and Mr. Richard CHAN over the issues concerned after the meeting.
16. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, followed up on Item 1 in the captioned paper regarding the road improvement works and provision of traffic facilities. He asked whether the department concerned could provide information on the traffic load from Chung Nga Road at Area 9 in Tai Po to Nam Wan Road, and from Chung Nga Road to Ting Lai Road, such as the number of vehicles travelling on the road sections concerned every day, so as to explore ways to ensure smooth traffic and road safety there. He said that as the traffic on Nam Wan Road was going to be saturated, and there was even traffic congestion starting from 7:45 a.m. every day, he hoped that the departments concerned could provide supplementary information on the traffic on Nam Wan Road, Chung Nga Road and Ting Lai Road.
17. Mr. TAM Yi-pui thanked the TD and the HyD for following up on the crossing facilities at Sai Keng Village, Ma Kwu Lam and Che Ha along Sai Sha Road. In addition, a resident had told him this morning that it was very dangerous to cross the road in Sai O Village, and the anti-collision reflective markings were not enough at present. While a fatal traffic accident took place in 2018, no improvement measures had been put in place there so far. Therefore, he would like to know whether the departments concerned would provide improvement facilities there. In addition, to facilitate the works on Sai Sha Road carried out by Sanfield-Gammon Construction JV Company Limited (“Sanfield-Gammon”), the original bus stop in Nai Chung bound for Sai Kung had to be enclosed. As such, he asked whether the original special departure in the morning would bypass the bus stop at Sai O Village bound for Sha Tin.
18. Ms. CHAN Wai-ka, Olive indicated that Item 2 in the captioned paper, namely the implementation of traffic management plan, mentioned that additional traffic signs would be set up. She said that as many coaches made a U-turn on Po Nga Road near Kui Wo House and had affected the passers-by crossing the road, she asked whether the departments concerned could add road markings nearby or repair the roads. In addition, she said that someone parked their vehicles near the gas station on Kwong Fuk Road for long periods of time and had obstructed other vehicles, while some parked their vehicles on Fuk Wo Road for long periods of time, preventing ambulances and fire engines from assessing the road for rescues. Therefore, she hoped that the TD would change the road markings or carry out an on-site inspection with her so as to improve the traffic condition.
- 7 -
19. Mr. WU Yiu-cheong said that the problems of insufficient parking spaces and illegal parking were serious at present. However, the provision of additional parking spaces proposed by the TD in the captioned paper would still take some time to be carried out. He had earlier written to the TD about the situation concerned and suggested the department convert the temporary car parks being put on tender (such as the site near Ma Wo Road which had been returned to the Government) into double-storey car parks, or consider inviting tenders to construct a temporary car park on the vacant government land under the flyover of Tolo Highway near Lai Chi Shan, so as to provide additional parking spaces and alleviate the illegal parking problem in Tai Po District in the least amount of time. He hoped that the TD could respond to the above suggestions at this meeting.
20. The Chairman suggested that Members could discuss the above matters in detail during the discussion of other agenda items, or follow up on them at the working group to be set up under the TTC. He asked the departments concerned to respond to the more important issues in this agenda item.
21. Ms. Summer LEE said that she would ask Mr. TAM Yi-pui after the meeting which anti- collision devices on Sai Sha Road were not safe enough, and would ask Sanfield-Gammon to take follow-up actions as soon as possible. In addition, Ms. Olive CHAN had mentioned that many vehicles were parked near the gas station on Kwong Fuk Road, thus affecting vehicle access. The department would keep in view the situation. In addition, as regards the introduction of newer automatic parking systems into short-term tenancy car parks in light of the shortage of parking spaces, she said that the TD was implementing a pilot scheme to study whether the automatic parking systems was suitable in Hong Kong, as well as their financial viability. Regarding the short-term tenancy car park on Ma Wo Road, the department had advised the departments concerned on the tender document. She said that there was also demand for the parking of commercial vehicles near the afore-mentioned car park. According to the Government’s policies, the parking spaces for commercial vehicles had priority over those for other types of vehicles. In this regard, the TD had discussed with the Lands Department (“Lands D”) and pointed out that the successful tenderer had to provide a certain number of parking spaces for commercial vehicles at the short-term tenancy car park on Ma Wo Road. She would continue to work with the Lands D to study the feasibility of designating the vacant government land at Lai Chi Shan as a short-term tenancy car park.
I V. The Transport Department’s Bus Route Planning Programme 2020-2021 of Tai Po District (TPDC Paper No. TT 14/2020)
22. The Chairman welcomed the following participants to attend the meeting for the discussion of this agenda item:
TD Ms. HUI Ka-yee, Judy, Senior Transport Officer / Bus / New Territories East - 8 -
Mr. YUEN Kin-hang, Tom, Transport Officer / Bus / New Territories East
KMB Mr. TAM Tsun-hei, Jeff, Manager / Public Affairs Mr. KUNG Wing-chun, Assistant Manager / Operations
Long Win Mr. LAW Yiu-wah, Rayson, Senior Planning and Development Officer
Citybus Mr. WONG, Simon, Planning and Scheduling Manager Ms CHUNG Pui-yee, Chief Public Affairs Officer
23. Ms. Flora MA introduced the bus routes rolled out by the TD since September 2019, including the operation of routes N307, 907B/C and 74P. Meanwhile, route 275R had also been extended to Wu Kau Tang Bus Terminus. She hoped that Members would continue to support the Bus Route Planning Programme 2020-2021 of Tai Po District.
24. Ms. Judy HUI outlined the captioned paper.
25. Mr. Richard CHAN’s comments and questions were as follows:
(i) The Bus Route Planning Programme 2020-2021 was apparently the briefest ever. (ii) The service frequency of routes 64K and 65K was too low to meet the needs during peak hours. As route 65K provided services during peak hours only, route 64K would be the only route left after peak hours, making it even more difficult to meet passenger needs. He had conducted inspections at the bus stops on a number of occasions, and saw that only route 64K was in operation during non-peak hours, and the service frequency was extremely low as well. It was difficult for passengers to get on board even after waiting for a long time. This situation was particularly serious at the bus stop near Hong Lok Yuen Roundabout on Lam Kam Road.
(iii) He suggested the department not only consider enhancing the service frequency of routes 64K and 65K during peak hours, but also consider providing additional departures from Nam Wa Po and travelling along Tai Wo Service Road West, Lam Kam Road and Tai Lam Tunnel before arriving at Tsuen Wan and crossing the harbour. He opined that such a route could prevent increasing the traffic burden of Tolo Highway and Tai Po town centre, thus resulting in smoother traffic.
(iv) The department could also consider setting up other Tsuen Wan-bound and cross- harbour routes in other parts of Tai Po District. For instance, a route could depart from Tai Wo and travel along Lam Kam Road and Tai Lam Tunnel before arriving at - 9 -
Tsuen Wan and crossing the harbour through the Western Harbour Crossing (“WHC”). He believed that this route could not only relieve the traffic burden of Tolo Highway, but also serve Tai Po residents. Furthermore, taking Tai Lam Tunnel on the way to the above locations might shorten the journey time.
26. Mr. TAM Yi-pui largely supported the Bus Route Planning Programme, and was pleased to see the department enhance the service frequency of routes 40E and X89D. However, he pointed out that there were delayed bus trips in some bus routes, including route 299X. He opined that even during the epidemic, it was not ideal that the service frequency between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. was set at once every 45 minutes.
27. Mr. Nick LAM opined that the residents nearby would find it more convenient if route A47X took a detour to Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Port (“Hong Kong Port”) instead. However, he did not understand why the TD could not respond directly whether it could provide additional stops within Tai Po District for route A47X before leaving the district so as to meet residents’ needs. In addition, he said that routes 907B/C were special departures of route 307. They crossed the harbour via the WHC with a shorter journey time compared with route 307. Therefore, he suggested the department review the passengers’ demand for routes 907B/C, so as to increase their service frequency and meet the needs of different people.
28. Mr. CHOW Yuen-wai also opined that the Bus Route Planning Programme was too brief, and did not contain any suggestions that he was pleased with. He asked about the patronage of route N307 which began operation in 2019. He said that some Members in the previous DC term had also mentioned that this route was only an enhanced version of route 307, in the sense that it was not really early morning bus service as it departed from Sheung Wan at 1 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. only, and from Tai Po at 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. Therefore, he suggested the department consider including additional departures similar to other N route series into the afore-mentioned route, which meant that services would also be provided from around 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. In addition, he saw quite a lot of people waiting for route T74 in Tai Wo, and the seated passengers accounted for some 50% to 60%. In this connection, he asked about the actual patronage of the route concerned. He said that there were quite a lot of round trips for T route series in other districts. For instance, route T277 had four departures every per day, but T74 only had one per day. In this connection, he asked whether the department planned to conduct yearly study on the needs to provide additional departures of route T74. As the department had planned bus routes to and from Hong Kong Port, he asked whether it would also remedy the shortcomings of airbus routes, rather than making minor changes only. He did not see any major difficulties in changing the late-night airbus routes as road traffic was not busy late at night. However, the department had never considered the changes he had proposed in the past, let alone the demand for increasing the frequency of the bus route concerned. He opined that the department’s proposal to divert the bus route concerned to Hong Kong Port was based on political consideration rather than actual needs. In addition, regarding route A47X, he said that the department had provided an additional departure at 7 a.m., while the - 10 - next departure was scheduled for 10 a.m. He found the arrangement extremely odd, and thus asked whether the department would provide additional departures of route A47X from the airport, so that the A route series in Tai Po District would be the same as those in other districts.
29. Mr. YIU Kwan-ho also found the Bus Route Planning Programme too brief. As regards route 74P, he said that the programme concerned would make it convenient for Kwun Tong residents to go to work at the Science Park. Meanwhile, as most of the residents in Pak Shek Kok also had to go to work in Kwun Tong and Kowloon, he asked whether the programme could be implemented at an earlier date. In addition, he understood that as the department had to modify the route from Pak Shek Kok to Wan Chai, it would take longer to implement the bus route services. However, as people had started moving into two housing estates, namely Solaria and St. Martin, there was a traffic demand. As such, he asked when the department would provide bus services from Pak Shek Kok to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (“HKCEC”) in Wan Chai. He also hoped that the programme could be implemented as soon as possible.
30. Mr. YAM Kai-bong opined that the Bus Route Planning Programme offered no substantial improvements but merely minor changes. While the department and bus company had improved certain bus route services in 2019, they did not respond to the new suggestions proposed by Members all along. His suggestions were as follows:
(i) At present, Tai Po residents going to Kwai Tsing District could only take route 73X to Shing Mun Tunnel and change buses, and it was very difficult to change buses at Shing Mun Tunnel on their way back to Tai Po. Although route 272P had been modified and extended to Kwai Fong one or two years ago, the extension was limited to one of the morning departures only. Therefore, he suggested turning it into a regular route or increasing its frequency so as to meet the traffic demand of residents going to Kwai Tsing District.
(ii) Although route 264R had recently been suspended due to the epidemic, its patronage had somewhat increased these days. If its fare was not double like present but only slightly higher than that of route 64K, he believed that passengers would opt for route 264R to go to Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai directly. He said that while Sha Tin and Sheung Shui had been increasing their number of bus routes to New Territories West, Tai Po had not. Therefore, he wondered whether the department believed that Tai Po residents had limited demand for traffic to and from New Territories West.
(iii) He suggested extending route 307P to Chai Wan and Siu Sai Wan, and providing the services concerned on Saturdays, Sundays and during non-peak hours on a regular basis. He opined that the department had been short-changing Tai Po residents as other districts had at least two cross-harbour bus routes, Tai Po District had only route 307. He said that if some bus companies were reluctant to operate such bus routes, the TD could entrust other competent bus companies. - 11 -
(iv) Route W3 had also been suspended due to the epidemic. However, during the DC meetings and the meetings with TD’s officers, they had on more than one occasion suggested providing additional bus stops in Tai Po District for route W3. By doing so, Tai Po residents could not only go to West Kowloon Station, but also travel between Tai Po and Sheung Shui more rapidly. At present, Tai Po residents could only take green minibus (“GMB”) route 502 or the MTR to go to Sheung Shui. However, the minibuses concerned often bypassed their stops as they were full. Moreover, since the social movements in June 2019, the public had become less willing to take the MTR. In addition, as bus routes could cover more places, such as North District Hospital and area far away from MTR stations, they had repeatedly suggested extending route 73 to Sheung Shui and North District Hospital. However, the department did not accept the suggestion, but opted to operate a wishy washy route 73B instead.
(v) He had reservations about the suggestion to extend route A47X to Hong Kong Port. He opined that the passengers’ demand for route A47X was already very high at present, and its buses were running on tight schedules. If the route was extended but no additional buses were provided, it would be difficult for the public to get on board, or bus trips would be delayed. He also noticed that after route A11 had been extended to Hong Kong Port, people who needed to travel to and from the airport could not get on board. Therefore, he had reservations about the suggestion.
(vi) He was disappointed with the Bus Route Planning Programme 2020-2021, in which the TD neither mentioned the development of the afore-mentioned routes, nor provided a forward-looking route plan.
31. Mr. LAU Yung-wai had discussed route 263C with Tuen Mun District Council Members, who also stated that the residents hoped that the service frequency of route 263C could be enhanced. Meanwhile, Tai Po residents also hoped that the services of the route concerned could be regularised and enhanced. In addition, he also had reservations about the proposal to extend route A47X to Hong Kong Port. He said that if the department would like to have a bus route travelling from Tai Po District to Hong Kong Port, it should set up a new bus route travelling to Hong Kong Port and then to the airport, instead of extending route A47X which had huge passengers’ demand at present. Regarding the bus route services not mentioned in the Bus Route Planning Programme, his suggestions were as follows:
(i) When the East Rail Line (“ERL”) broke down, passengers had to take route W3, which would then become full. Other than that, however, the patronage of route W3 was in fact not high. He also opined that there were many uncertainties as regards the ERL. For instance, it often broke down, and would convert to nine-car trains in the future. Therefore, he found it necessary for the department to restructure and improve the services of route W3, so that the public could go to West Kowloon Station - 12 -
via this line and travel to North District, Tai Po and Sha Tin more rapidly.
(ii) He opined that the bus company was too aggressive when setting the fare of route 264R. If route 264R provided services not only on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays and turned into a regular route, he asked whether the bus company could lower the fare so that more people would take route 264R as a faster way to travel between Tai Po and Yuen Long.
(iii) He found it necessary to enhance the bus services between Tai Po District and Kwai Tsing District.
(iv) He asked whether the TD had referred to the Survey Reports of Public Bus Services in Tai Po District commissioned by the TPDC in 2018, and said that Eastern District Council Members had also mentioned the report at its Working Group on Public Transport and Road Safety meeting in 2018. Citing the findings of the survey, he pointed out that among the respondents taking public transport to travel between Tai Po and Hong Kong East, 20% went to places where buses from Tai Po could not reach directly. Such places included Chai Wan, Heng Fa Chuen and Siu Sai Wan. It could be seen that there was traffic demand for these places. Therefore, he suggested the TD consider setting up bus routes between Eastern District and Tai Po. Nonetheless, even though he put forward the suggestion to the TD two years ago, the TD still had not responded to his request. However, in the Bus Route Planning Programme 2019-2020 of Eastern District, the TD suggested setting up new bus routes to Sai Wan Ho (Tai On Street) from various locations such as Yuen Long (San Tin), Tsuen Wan West Station and Fo Tan, but Tai Po was not included. He indicated that there were four auxiliary routes under cross-harbour bus route 682 in Sha Tin District. In the Bus Route Planning Programme 2020-2021 of Eastern District, the department even proposed splitting the routes of the bus routes concerned, so that they departed from Fo Tan and Tai Wai respectively. Therefore, he did not understand why the TD believed that Tai Po residents had no need to travel to Eastern District. He indicated that even Yuen Long, which was further away from Eastern District, had buses travelling to and from Eastern District. Therefore, he could not accept that only Tai Po District had no such bus routes. If the TD proposed such bus routes on the grounds of population growth, he opined that the department could not ignore the population growth in Tai Po District. The department had stated that there was no data showing Tai Po residents had any needs to travel to and from Eastern District. As such, the TPDC had also provided the relevant survey reports to prove such a need. However, the department gave no response, and even set up Eastern District-bound or cross-harbour bus routes in other districts. He found it unacceptable. He remembered that some TD officers had said at previous meetings that Tai Po residents who needed to travel to Eastern District could change buses in Kwun Tong. However, he could not accept that Tai Po residents alone had to change buses on their way to Eastern District. - 13 -
(v) He suggested the department set up direct bus routes to Tseung Kwan O, and opined that Tai Po residents needed direct bus services to other districts.
(vi) He hoped that the department could seriously consider Members’ views.
32. Ms. Judy HUI opined that Members largely agreed with the proposed bus routes in the captioned Bus Route Planning Programme. Regarding the comments not related to the Bus Route Planning Programme, she responded as follows:
(i) Regarding the suggestions to enhance the service frequency of routes including 64K, 65K, 299X, 907B/C and T74, she said that the TD had been closely monitoring the daily operation of bus routes. The bus company would enhance service frequency based on demand.
(ii) In light of the commissioning of Hong Kong Port, the department proposed diverting route A47X to Hong Kong Port so as to provide direct bus services to make it convenient for the public to travel between Tai Po and Hong Kong Port. The department did everything possible to arrange for an A route in every district to travel past Hong Kong Port, so that residents in every district could have direct bus services to and from Hong Kong Port. Meanwhile, as route A47X would first travel to the airport before heading to Hong Kong Port, it would not affect the journey time of existing passengers. After the bus route plan was implemented, the bus company would continue to monitor the services of and passengers’ demand for the route concerned. If necessary, service frequency would be enhanced in a timely manner.
(iii) The department noted that people were gradually moving into the housing estates in Pak Shek Kok, and it was expected that all the residents would move in by 2021. Therefore, the department and the bus company would monitor the situation, and explore the possibility of taking forward the proposal to enhance the service frequency of route 74P at an earlier date, subject to passengers’ demand and availability of resources.
(iv) The department was currently consulting the TTCs of the relevant DCs about the bus services from Pak Shek Kok to the HKCEC in Wan Chai. Subject to the outcome of consultation, the department would make arrangements to invite the bus company to operate the services concerned, with a view to taking forward the plan in 2020.
(v) As route 264R was a holiday travel route, its fare was different from that of regular routes. The department noted Members’ proposal to turn it into a regular route and adjust its fare. Currently, route 64K provided services between Tai Po and Yuen Long, along which there was a lot of stops. The department understood that the public would like to have faster bus services heading for Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai with a fare based on regular routes. The department would work with the bus company to study the feasibility of enhancing the bus services concerned. - 14 -
(vi) At present, the services of route 307P on Hong Kong Island covered the core business areas in Eastern District, namely Sai Wan Ho, Quarry Bay and Tai Koo. The department would work with the bus company to study the feasibility of extending the service area of the route to Chai Wan and Heng Fa Chuen. The department also kept in view the service level of the existing route 307P. If necessary, it would discuss with the bus company to enhance service frequency so as to meet passengers’ demand.
(vii) The department noted Members’ views to set up bus routes from Tai Po District to Tseung Kwan O and Sha Tin.
(viii) Due to the epidemic, the current patronage did not fully reflect passengers’ demand. Therefore, the department would review the passengers’ demand for route 272P after the epidemic had stabilised. If necessary, it would also discuss with the bus company to enhance the service frequency.
33. Ms. Flora MA said that the TD launched route 64P in 2019. The route, which commenced operation in the afternoon, was headed for Kadoorie Farm to make up for the shortcomings of routes 64K and 65K. Due to the recent epidemic, the patronage of all bus routes was low. The department would continue to look into passengers’ demand. If it noticed an increase in patronage, it would ask KMB to enhance the service frequency. In addition, regarding Members’ proposal to provide additional bus services to connect North District and Tai Po District, she said that the department had been paying attention to the development of North District and Tai Po District. If there were new bus services or plans to enhance existing ones, she would consult or inform the DC concerned. As the epidemic broke out soon after the department had commenced operating routes 907B/C and N307 in January 2020, the patronage of these routes was very low. However, the department would also ask the bus company to enhance the service frequency based on passengers’ demand. In addition, she said that when the operation of the ERL’s University Station and road condition were affected in the social movements in 2019, route W3 had played a significant role. Therefore, the department had also discussed with the North District Council on ways to enhance its services. She noted that Members would like to have more stops for route A47X. When referring to the information about the situation when the route was launched, she noticed that the local community had put forward different views at that time. In this connection, the department would once again review the situation of the route and discuss the arrangements concerned with Members.
34. Ms. Olive CHAN disagreed and was not happy with the captioned Bus Route Planning Programme, and opined that the department had only made minor improvements. She said that when she was a Co-opted Member in the previous DC term, she had already said that Tai Po residents were in dire need of direct bus services from Tai Po to Chai Wan. However, the department had only proposed providing bus services to Chai Wan from Nai Chung, which was far away from Tai Po town centre, instead of providing such services at somewhere closer to Tai Po town centre. If the department stated that Tai Po residents could travel between these two places by changing buses - 15 - at Tate’s Cairn Tunnel or Eastern Harbour Crossing, she would not accept it as the journey time for taking such a route to Chai Wan would be extremely long. In addition, the reason why the department had launched route T74 was to make up for the shortcomings of the MTR. However, the route provided only one departure on weekday mornings, and over 30 people would get on board at one of the stops. Therefore, she hoped that the department could review whether it was necessary to provide additional trips for this route. After the MTR had turned the ERL trains into nine-car trains, residents waiting at Tai Wo Station would have difficulties boarding the trains and therefore had to take a bus instead. She hoped that the department would carefully consider the needs of the public so as to draw up a more detailed bus route planning programme. As regards route T74, she did not understand why the department suggested providing an additional return trip from Kwun Tong Ferry Pier at 5:55 p.m. on weekdays. She said that the public generally got off work between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. However, as the department had scheduled for a departure from Wai Yip Street at 5:55 p.m., it meant that the public would not be able to catch it and it would be a waste of bus resources. She opined that the TD should consider the commuting patterns of the public before adjusting the service hours and service frequency, so as to meet the needs of passengers.
35. Mr. WU Yiu-cheong’s comments were as follows:
(i) He was disappointed with the captioned programme, not only because the TD had only made minor adjustments to the bus services in Tai Po District, but also because it had failed to explain reasonably why it still could not respond to Members’ suggestions. It just kept saying that it would consider Members’ suggestions and review passengers’ demand. He said that Members would consult the local community and provide justifications before putting forward a suggestion. However, the departmental representatives failed to provide any convincing reasons to explain why the department did not consider the suggestions. He had also advised the TD and bus company on bus services, but there had not been any direct response so far.
(ii) His constituency was near Tai Po Market MTR Station. As the Government’s transport policies were railway-based and the TD would also like to encourage the public to take the MTR more often, the residents near Wan Tau Tong, Uptown Plaza and Classical Gardens did not have enough bus services for the urban areas. However, the public took the MTR less often nowadays. For instance, in the first three months of 2020, the MTR’s patronage had fallen by 40%. While that might be attributed to the epidemic, the MTR’s patronage had also decreased by 25% in October 2019. He opined that there were many reasons for not taking the MTR, such as being unhappy with its services and disgusted at its branding, etc. Although the TD might not have to consider the underlying reasons, it should provide the public with alternative means of public transport in lieu of the MTR. However, the department currently did not provide the residents in Tai Po South with any - 16 -
alternative means of public transport in lieu of the MTR.
(iii) At present, many bus routes in Tai Po District travelled past Kwong Fuk Estate before heading for Tolo Highway. However, if Kwong Fuk Estate was the last stop for all bus routes before reaching the urban area, no matter how many bus routes the department would set up, passengers at Kwong Fuk Estate would always find it difficult to get on board, or could only stand in the bus compartment until they had arrived at the urban area. Therefore, he suggested the department consider splitting certain overlapping bus routes to divert passengers. For instance, route 74D would no longer travel past Kwong Fuk Roundabout but instead go to Wan Tau Tong, from where it would be heading directly for Tolo Highway via Tat Wan Road. This meant separate bus stops for Tai Po Market and Tai Po South, so that passengers would not have to wait for buses at Kwong Fuk Estate together, thus making it easier for Kwong Fuk Estate residents to take route 74X. He hoped that the TD could understand that the TPDC in this term was dominated by democratic DC Members. Therefore, it would not accept the department’s suggestions and responses as easily as it used to. He also disagreed with the proposals in the captioned Bus Route Planning Programme, including the suggestion that providing additional bus routes or trips would facilitate the sustainable development of bus services. This suggestion could only improve the shortcomings of bus services in the past. If the department would like to achieve sustainable development of bus services, it would have to improve bus services on a more macroscopic level by, for instance, changing the routes.
36. Mr. Richard CHAN said that he had earlier suggested the TD set up bus routes in Tai Po District heading for the urban area via Lam Kam Road and Tai Lam Tunnel. He asked whether the suggestion was feasible.
37. Ms. Judy HUI said that she had to work with the bus company to study the feasibility of changing the bus routes, as it would affect the existing bus route arrangements and passengers.
38. Mr. Richard CHAN found the department’s response perfunctory. He pointed out that the challenge of the afore-mentioned suggestion was that the road section of Lam Kam Road near Ling Wan Monastery was too narrow for vehicles longer than 12 metres. Moreover, vehicles longer than 12 metres were also prohibited on Lam Kam Road. Therefore, if the department decided to study his suggestion, it had to widen the road section near Ling Wan Monastery first. He hoped that the department could seriously consider the suggestion. In addition, he suggested the department consider changing the bus routes so that they would head for the urban area via Lam Kam Road and Tai Lam Tunnel instead, or head for Tuen Mun via San Tin Road in the direction of Sheung Shui, so as to relieve the congestion on Tolo Highway. He indicated that paragraph 23(v) of the minutes of the TTC meeting in September 2019 contained a remark by Mr. YAM Kai-bong, who pointed out that Tai Po residents had said that route 263C was often caught in traffic congestion when travelling - 17 - to Sha Tin and Tsuen Wan via Tuen Mun Road. Since 2019, however, the department had not put forward any suggestion to address the problem. He opined that the department should respond to Members questions directly, instead of merely noting their views without taking any follow-up actions.
39. Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang suggested the TD consider providing two additional departures of route 74E from Sam Mun Tsai Road in Tai Po between 7:30 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. He said that the existing departures of route 74E from Tai Mei Tuk Bus Terminus between 7:15 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. were already full when they arrived at Ha Hang and Fung Yuen Bus Terminus. Therefore, providing additional departures could reduce the journey time of passengers who got on board at Tai Mei Tuk Bus Terminus. Meanwhile, passengers who got on board at Ha Hang and subsequent stops could also find a seat. In addition, he said that route 74E from Kwun Tong Ferry Pier to Tai Mei Tuk currently departed at 5:50 p.m. when most passengers had not got off work yet. As such, he suggested the department change the departure time or postpone it to 6:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. He also asked the TD what information it would like to obtain from DC Members so as to take forward their suggestions as soon as possible. In addition, he suggested the department re-organise the bus routes to allow buses to travel past the rural areas and Lam Tsuen River separately, as it was not necessary to have every bus route to travel past Kwong Fuk Estate bus stop.
40. Mr. YAM Kai-bong’s comments were as follows:
(i) The TD gave the same reply to the suggestions put forward by Members every year, merely stating that the department had noted the views and would give them some thoughts. He said that most of the suggestions put forward by previous Members on the bus route planning programmes for 2019 and 2018 were similar to what Members had suggested at this meeting. However, the department had never implemented them. As such, he did not understand how the department would follow up on them.
(ii) In 2018, the TPDC had commissioned a consultancy study on the public bus services in Tai Po District, which clearly showed that the public would like to have more bus routes to travel to different districts. Therefore, he opined that Members had provided the TD with the relevant information, and had relayed the public’s views to the TD at various meetings. However, the department had only implemented the suggestions it deemed necessary, without considering those put forward by Members.
(iii) Although the department did not want Members to have meetings with various bus companies on their own, Members had learnt from the meetings that the bus companies were open to Members’ suggestions. Therefore, he opined that the department could allow the bus companies to bid for bus services. Upon the implementation of the services, if the patronage was not satisfactory, the department could terminate the services or allow the bus companies to explore ways to improve - 18 -
or enhance the services so as to retain the passengers.
(iv) The department could no longer use “the railway-based network complemented by bus services” as the approach to public transport planning. He opined that the introduction of nine-car trains by the MTR to replace the 12-car trains would give rise to myriads of problems, especially when Mainland visitors visited Hong Kong again and during peak hours. Although the MTR would introduce nine-car trains and enhance the new signal system at the same time, such initiatives would not lead to a substantial increase in carrying capacity. As regards North District (including Sheung Shui and Fanling), while the population would continue to grow, they could rely on the MTR to commute, whereas the residents in Sha Tin District could rely on the new bus route services set up by the department in the past two or three years to travel to the urban area or Hong Kong Island. He opined that although the department had slightly improved the transport services in Tai Po District, it had not provided new bus services for Tai Po residents.
(v) He asked how the department would consider the views put forward by the public and give specific responses, instead of just taking note of their views. He said that while the captioned programme could improve some of the bus services in Tai Po District, if the department neither specifically responded to what Members had suggested today at the future TTC or working group meetings, nor overhauled the captioned programme, it would be difficult to persuade Members to support the programme.
41. Mr. LAU Yung-wai’s comments were as follows:
(i) He asked the TD once again whether it had studied the Survey Reports of Public Bus Services in Tai Po District submitted by the TPDC. He said that Members who had been re-elected or Co-opted Members in the previous DC term had also asked the department in 2019 to provide additional bus services to Eastern District. However, the department had neither given any response nor taken any follow-up actions. It simply responded in a perfunctory manner every year, without taking forward any suggestions in the bus route planning programmes.
(ii) He indicated that in the past couple of years, the department had provided limited new bus services in Tai Po District. He said that all N route series in the New Territories provided overnight services and a number of departures, while route N307 in Tai Po District was the only route without such an arrangement. However, the department believed that the problem could be dealt with by providing the relevant route services. If arrangements were made according to the bus resources required, North District required more bus resources , including fuel cost, than the remote areas in Tai Po did, and might have fewer bus service users. Nonetheless, route N373 could provide services during the entire late-night hours, while route N307 could - 19 -
offer just one additional departure only after Members’ repeated requests. He found it unacceptable.
(iii) The Bus Route Planning Programme of Tai Po District submitted by the TD every year was also hastily prepared and was not worthy of discussion. The TD did not seriously consider Members’ previous suggestions. The survey report they had submitted years ago had fully expressed the requests of Tai Po residents and was backed by specific data. The department might not have referred to the afore- mentioned survey report, and that was why it had no idea that Tai Po residents were in dire need of the bus services concerned. Members could hardly accept the fact that the TD made only minor amendments to the bus services in Tai Po every year in the hope that Members would endorse the bus route planning programme. He had no intention to regard other districts as competitors of Tai Po District. However, he opined that the TD had to treat the residents of all districts equally, rather than allocating resources in an uneven manner. He said that Sha Tin District, for instance, had a population of about 600 000, and Tai Po District about 300 000. However, the bus resources allocated to Tai Po District were less than half of what Sha Tin District had, and there were two cross-harbour bus routes in Sha Tin District as well. In response to the population growth in Sha Tin District, the department had also enhanced the service frequency of routes 682, 682A and 682X. He wondered if the department had taken the population growth in Tai Po seriously, and whether it was ignoring the traffic demand of Tai Po residents. He reiterated that it was difficult for him to accept the perfunctory bus route planning programmes submitted by the department year after year.
42. Mr. CHOW Yuen-wai’s comments were as follows:
(i) The TD did not mention any specific data in its response. Whenever Members commented on the new routes proposed by the TD or the shortcomings of certain routes, the department always stated that trial runs were necessary before the actual outcomes could be determined. However, six months or a year after the implementation of the suggestions, the department still did not provide any data on the bus routes that Members believed were not properly scheduled, such as the arrangement for route N307 to run in the early morning. He pointed out that the N route series in other districts had one departure every 15 to 30 minutes starting from 1 a.m., but route N307 had just one departure at 5 a.m. Although the department had stated that the arrangement was ideal, it did not provide any data for follow-up actions. Therefore, it was impossible to prove whether such services could meet passengers’ needs or to explore ways to improve the services. The same happened to route T74 as well. In 2019, when he suggested the department launch route T74, he had already mentioned that one departure alone was not enough, and its departure - 20 -
time was not ideal either. However, the department had likewise suggested operating one round trip on a trial basis. He had no idea what criteria the department had adopted to decide when to enhance the service frequency and service hours. It was also incomprehensible to him that the department’s decisions were often different from the public’s expectations.
(ii) When the department decided to commission a consultancy study on the public bus services in Tai Po District, he already had reservations about the effectiveness of the survey report. As the survey findings were also the views that Members had all along been putting forward to the department at the meetings, he already expected that the department would not respond to the findings. Subsequently, the department indeed did not respond to the findings, and he did not understand why either. He asked the Chairman whether the department would provide more information for Members to understand how the department planned bus routes. He also wondered if the department would only follow up on the routes with political considerations as soon as possible, or even take forward certain suggestions, such as routes W3 and 271 bound for Jordan (West Kowloon Station) and the proposed route A47X with an additional stop at Hong Kong Port, without preparing the relevant papers for Members’ reference or consultation. As the department still had not followed up on Members’ suggestions, he asked whether he could ask the department to provide more relevant data for Members’ reference.
43. Ms. Flora MA responded as follows:
(i) The department had listened to Members’ views, which were the basis for the launch of new items in the Bus Route Planning Programme every year, such as routes N307 and 907B/C launched in 2019.
(ii) The department would also follow up on Members’ views on the suggestions not included in the bus route planning programme. For instance, she said that the department had implemented the suggestions put forward by Mr. LAU Yung-wai in the past by extending route 271S to Tai Wo. It had also heeded the request of the then DC Members to improve the bus services in Lam Tsuen Valley by setting up route 64P to meet the needs. Therefore, the department had been following up on Members’ suggestions, as well as reviewing the relevant situations and the overall development of transport networks.
(iii) The department had been reviewing the bus services on Lam Kam Road. She said that the department and the HyD had explained the reason for widening Lam Kam Road at the meetings in the previous DC term. The reason was that vehicles longer than 11 metres were prohibited from entering Lam Kam Road due to the road restriction at the section near Ling Wan Monastery, as mentioned by Mr. Richard CHAN. However, as vehicles longer than 11 metres were allowed to travel along - 21 -
the section between Hong Lok Yuen and Kadoorie Farm but unable to turn around near Ling Wan Monastery, the department had to set up a turnaround area in the vicinity. By doing so, the bus company could deploy buses longer than 11 metres with a higher carrying capacity to travel there, so as to speed up the bus flow. She had also explained to the then DC Members and the local community that the department believed the addition of a turnaround area would allow buses to turn around near Kadoorie Farm. Having inspected the area concerned, the department’s engineers and the HyD both considered that it would be better to set up a turnaround area in Ng Tung Chai, and therefore suggested doing so first. Upon completion of the works concerned, more bus services could be provided.
(iv) Regarding the suggestion of Mr. YAM Kai-bong and Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang to re- organise the bus routes so as to reduce overlapping, she said that at the TPDC meeting held in September 2019, the department had stated that it was preparing for a traffic and transport study in Tai Po District, in which it would not only explore ways to re- organise the existing bus routes in Tai Po District, but also review the services of railways, minibuses and other means of transport so as to strike a balance.
(v) Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the bus patronage had dropped significantly. Although the department would like to launch more new services, it believed that not many people would use them during this period of time. However, the department would enhance the service frequency after the epidemic according to the commuting pattern of the public.
44. Regarding the vehicle length restriction on Lam Kam Road, Mr. Alex LAM added that vehicles longer than 11 metres had never been allowed on Lam Kam Road. However, with the development in rural areas, the departments concerned would also consider widening Lam Kam Road. For instance, road widening works would also be carried out near Ling Wan Monastery and in Yuen Long District. Upon the completion of the works of Ng Tung Chai Roundabout, the department would examine in a comprehensive manner the possibility of relaxing the restriction so as to allow vehicles longer than 11 metres to enter the road section at Ng Tung Chai Roundabout from Tai Po District.
45. Ms. Judy HUI noted Members’ request to set up new bus routes from Tai Po District to other districts. In this connection, she said that when considering the setting up of new bus routes, the department would consider the existing transport services, district development and passengers’ demand in the district concerned, as well as the views of Members, before discussing with the bus company whether the suggestions were feasible. As regards the N routes series in Tai Po District, the patronage was low due to the epidemic. After the epidemic situation had improved, the department would once again review the patronage of the routes concerned and adjust the services in a timely manner according to passengers’ demand. In addition, with regard to the adjustment of departure time of certain bus routes, such as routes 74E and T74, the department would once again - 22 - discuss the feasibility with the bus company so as to meet the passengers’ need.
46. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman’s comments were as follows:
(i) He had to consider carefully whether to endorse the captioned Bus Route Planning Programme.
(ii) The TD mentioned in the captioned paper that the department would consider the community development and population growth in each area when planning for the launch of new bus services. However, he opined that the department might not even know about the population growth at Area 9 in Tai Po and Pak Shek Kok in the next two to three years. It showed that the department had not seriously considered the above factors when coming up with the route planning programme concerned.
(iii) People began moving into Fu Heng Estate in 1990. Before 1990, the completed public and Home Ownership Scheme housing estates in Tai Po District included Ting Nga Court, Tai Yuen Estate, Wang Fuk Court, Kwong Fuk Estate, Tai Po Plaza, Fu Shin Estate, Ming Nga Court, Sun Hing Garden and Tai Wo Estate. He opined that the department had not anticipated beforehand how the intake of residents at Fu Heng Estate would affect other areas. Instead, it started taking into account the population growth only after residents had moved in, which was not the right approach. Similarly, the department had presumably calculated the number of public housing units to be built at Area 9 in Tai Po and the additional population, rather than finding out the data only when the residents had moved in. If the department had carried out the relevant studies, it would not have arranged for all bus routes to travel to Kwong Fuk Estate along Nam Wan Road. He would like the department to provide the percentage of vehicles travelling to other places via Ting Lai Road, Chung Nga Road and Nam Wan Road at present, and make good use of such data when planning for bus services. Given that Area 9 in Tai Po still relied on Chung Nga Road, he wondered if it was possible not to allow buses to go to other places via Nam Wan Road. Instead, they could go to Tai Wo via Ting Lai Road, or from Ha Hang via Tai Po Industrial Estate, so as to allow other members of the public to get on board the buses. He also pointed out that there had just been a handful of bus routes available at Fu Heng Estate, such as 71A, 71B, 271, 272B and A47X.
(iv) The department had just indicated that even if route A47X took a detour to Hong Kong Port instead, the journey to the airport would not become longer. However, he opined that the department could definitely increase patronage by providing a total of five departures every two hours, or once every 24 minutes.
(v) Regarding the insufficient patronage of route 263C, he said that some blue-collar workers, for instance, had to arrive at work in Tuen Mun by 8 a.m. However, they could never arrive on time if they took route 263C. If the department could provide - 23 -
an additional departure five to ten minutes earlier, the patronage might increase. He indicated that the public did not find route 263C appealing as its departure time did not suit them. That was why its patronage was low.
(vi) He opined that the department kept using the epidemic as an excuse for not enhancing service frequency or providing additional bus services. However, before the epidemic, Members had been proposing to enhance the services of route 307P or to provide additional bus services from Tai Po District to Island East.
(vii) He opined that the re-elected DC Members and new DC Members had provided the department with a lot of suggestions to improve the bus services in Tai Po District. He hoped that the department and the bus company could be more receptive to their views.
47. Mr. AU Chun-wah’s comments were as follows:
(i) He stopped having any expectations for the Bus Route Planning Programme proposed by the department years ago, because no matter what views Members had put forward, the department would simply take note of them and then act according to its original plan. Even if the department stated that it would accept the suggestions, it would only make minor improvements at most. Had the department intended to take forward Members’ suggestions, it would have done so rather than never giving any response. Many suggestions put forward by Members could yield profits for the bus company. They also knew that it was not that the bus company was reluctant to take forward the suggestions. Rather, it was the department which did not agree to do so. Therefore, he asked Ms. Flora MA to explain why, and asked whether it was she or her supervisor who did not agree to take forward the suggestions. If it was her supervisor who did not agree to do so, he suggested inviting a departmental representative at a higher rank than hers, such as Chief Transport Officer, to attend the next meeting and provide explanations. He asked Ms. Flora MA to relay his suggestion to her supervisor.
(ii) When the MTR planned to introduce nine-car trains, Members had already asked the TD and the MTR about the impact of this arrangement on carrying capacity, such as the increase in service frequency arising from the enhancement of signalling system, and the estimated increase in carrying capacity, etc. In this connection, the senior management of the MTR had responded at that time that they could basically maintain the carrying capacity of the original 12-car trains. To him, it meant that the introduction of nine-car trains would not help increase the carrying capacity. Instead, the MTR would only maintain its original services but not provide any additional resources for the residents in Tai Po District and North District, let alone any new resources for the additional population in the two districts in the future. The MTR representatives would of course explain that the commissioning of Shatin - 24 -
to Central Link would help divert the passengers at Tai Wai Station, thereby addressing the traffic demand in the areas concerned. To date, however, no one had ever been able to answer how the MTR could provide sufficient cars for the passengers to board the trains travelling from Sha Tin Station to Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau at the stations along the way. If someone could answer this question, he did not mind endorsing the captioned programme. However, he was certain that no one could do so because the explanations given by the MTR representative did not make sense. As the traffic on Tolo Highway had been saturated, there were traffic congestion and traffic accidents every day. As a result, residents who went to work in the urban area had to allow two to two and a half hours for commuting, instead of one to one and a half hours in the past. That was why Members suggested the departments concerned look into the construction of a new trunk road to connect Tai Po District and North District with the urban area. However, in the Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030, the department neither mentioned this suggestion nor ways to ease traffic congestion on Tolo Highway at present.
(iii) He asked the department about the findings and improvement measures of the Tai Po District traffic and transport study which, as mentioned at the TPDC meeting in September 2019, was under preparation. He also asked about the ways to improve the traffic condition at different parts of Tai Po, such as Nam Wan Road, Kwong Fuk Road and Po Heung Bridge.
(iv) He did not understand why the department did not consider and review the commuting patterns and traffic demand of passengers in the past few years. Instead, it had only talked about the passengers’ needs in the past few months, and stated that it would review the genuine needs of passengers only after the epidemic was over. He found such an approach unreasonable. The commuting patterns and patronage recorded before the epidemic could also reflect the passengers’ needs, and would not be substantially different from their post-epidemic needs. If the department believed that such needs would be substantially different, he asked the department to provide data to convince them.
(v) He strongly demanded that TD representatives of higher ranks be invited to attend the next meeting. If the representatives still responded to Members’ suggestions with the same speech, it would show that the captioned programme was decided by the TD, and they would no longer have to give Ms. Flora MA a hard time.
48. Mr. SO Tat-leung said that the department did not propose any bus routes for Shuen Wan in the captioned programme. While the Government would like to encourage the public to travel by the MTR, Shuen Wan residents could not rely on the MTR, and most of them could only go out by taking routes 74K and 75K. During the epidemic, more people took route 75K to travel to Tai Mei Tuk. However, the bus company did not enhance service frequency, making it even more - 25 - inconvenient for the residents. Therefore, he would like the TD to pay attention to the situation. In addition, the bus mobile application often showed that the waiting time was 40 minutes. He had asked the bus company whether there was something wrong with the mobile application, or members of the public really had to wait for 40 minutes. Regardless, residents could not decide whether they should go out and wait for the bus according to the service frequency shown in the bus mobile application. In addition, he asked whether the department could enhance the service frequency of routes 73P and 74E. For route 74E, the outbound route was extremely crowded, and there was only one return trip departing at 5:55 p.m., which was not in line with the time when most people got off work. Meanwhile, route 73P did not even provide any return trip.
49. Mr. TAM Yi-pui’s comments were as follows:
(i) Although many suggestions in the captioned programme could benefit the residents in Sai Kung North, he also agreed with the views put forward by Members.
(ii) He opined that the TD should consider setting up an interchange at San Tin in North District, as a long-term goal for the development of transport network between New Territories West and New Territories East. He said that, for instance, route 263C travelled through Shing Mun Tunnel, leading to more congestion on Tolo Highway. Meanwhile, when it travelled past Ravana Garden in Sha Tin, it would run into traffic congestion again, thus creating a negative impact on the traffic in New Territories East. Although KMB had stated that it had arranged for route 263C to use Shing Mun Tunnel due to its advanced development, he was worried that the public would rely more on the MTR after the completion of its Northern Link, thus undermining the competitiveness of buses.
(iii) He opined that KMB had an edge that made it irreplaceable by the MTR. For instance, if members of the public took the MTR to travel from the Chinese University of Hong Kong to Ma On Shan, they had to take a long detour. However, if they took a bus, all they had to do was to travel across a flyover. Therefore, he opined that the department could consider making good use of the flyover to provide more bus routes from Shap Sze Heung or Ma On Shan to Tai Po town centre, North District and even places with no bus services yet, including Yuen Long and Tuen Mun. In addition, the department could enhance the service frequency of route 274P or turn it into whole-day services. As the fare of GMB route 26 was very high, route 274P was more attractive to the public because of its lower fare. Although there was also population growth in Shap Sze Heung, it did not grow as much compared with Area 9 in Tai Po, Queen's Hill in North District and Yuen Long. Therefore, the department also had to consider these situations. While he might abstain from voting on whether to endorse the captioned programme, he thanked the department for putting forward the transport proposals for Sai Kung North, and hoped that the department would consider his suggestions. - 26 -
50. Mr. Richard CHAN said that regarding whether the department would consider changing the bus routes, namely the proposal to arrange for buses to go to different areas via Lam Kam Road and Tai Lam Tunnel instead, Ms. Judy HUI had at least said that she would study the feasibility of the proposal, but Ms. Flora MA had flatly rejected it at the meeting. Such an approach had made life difficult for members of the public. He stressed that he was a DC Member of Tai Po District, not just a DC Member of Lam Tsuen Valley. Therefore, if he was happy with the department’s proposal to set up a turnaround area in Ng Tung Chai and believed that it would be good enough to resolve the traffic problems in Lam Tsuen Valley, he would be ashamed of himself in front of Tai Po residents. He opined that Members had proposed many solutions to the various traffic problems in Tai Po District, such as the traffic congestion at Kwong Fuk Estate, the heavy traffic burden on Tolo Highway, etc. For instance, Mr. WU Yiu-cheong had suggested vehicles enter Tolo Highway from another exit, and he had suggested going to different areas via Lam Kam Road. However, Ms. MA immediately said that the road restrictions at the section near Ling Wan Monastery had made the proposal not feasible. It meant that the department would not consider arranging for buses to go to different areas via Lam Kam Road and Tai Lam Tunnel instead. He opined that Ms. MA should have listened to and considered Members’ view in a more positive manner, instead of refusing to consider any suggestions.
51. The Chairman said that to his understanding, Ms. Flora MA meant that the completion of the road widening works on Lam Kam Road could resolve the problem that longer buses with higher carrying capacity could not travel on the roads near Ling Wan Monastery. However, she merely did not answer whether buses in Tai Po would be arranged to travel to other districts via Tai Lam Tunnel instead. Also, she did not respond directly whether buses would be allowed to travel to other districts via Lam Kam Road and Tai Lam Tunnel instead, in light of the proposal to set up a turnaround area in Ng Tung Chai.
52. Mr. Richard CHAN clarified that setting up a turnaround area in Ng Tung Chai would not help buses turn around near Ling Wan Monastery. The reason was that buses travelling to Yuen Long via the proposed turnaround area in Ng Tung Chai would have to travel along the road section near Ling Wan Monastery. However, as the road section near Ling Wan Monastery was too narrow for buses to turn around, buses entering this road section would affect road safety.
53. Mr. LAU Yung-wai thanked the TD for taking forward his proposal to extend route 271S and consider extending other bus routes to the vicinity of Old Market and Tai Wo. However, he had asked the department twice whether it had referred to the Survey Reports of Public Bus Services in Tai Po District when drawing up the captioned programme, because the reports had stated the needs to set up new bus routes in Tai Po District to various areas. However, the department had never responded to his question. As such, he believed that the department had not referred to the reports. Had the department done so, the captioned programme would have proposed several new bus route services to various areas, such as Kwai Tsing District and Eastern District. The department always - 27 - stated that the provision of new bus services had to be backed by statistics and the public. To this end, Members had provided the relevant information, and the TPDC had even allocated some $100,000 to commission the consultancy study. Meanwhile, the consultancy company had also deployed staff to the bus stops to collect views from the public, and found that 20% of Tai Po residents heading for Chai Wan and Heng Fa Chuen had to change buses. He opined that the statistics were enough to support the department’s provision of the bus services concerned. However, the department still had no plans whatsoever, making it difficult for him to support the captioned route planning programme.
54. Mr. WONG Siu-kin said that the TD had mentioned in the captioned route planning programme that it would continue to enhance the existing bus service networks according to district development, demographic changes, completion of transport infrastructure, as well as the existing and planned transport services in the district. He asked the TD about the basis on which it decided whether to provide return trips during the commuting peak hours. During the morning peak hours, there were many bus routes from Wan Tau Tong to various districts, such as Hong Kong Island, Kwun Tong and East Kowloon. However, during the afternoon and evening peak hours, there were no bus services returning to Wan Tau Tong Bus Terminus. As such, residents had to get off at Kwong Fuk Estate and take a 15-minute walk before arriving at Wan Tau Tong. In addition, covers had yet been built at Wan Tau Tong Bus Terminus. Therefore, he asked about the progress concerned and the specific timetable.
55. Ms. Judy HUI responded as follows:
(i) The TD had been collecting and listening to Members’ views through different channels, and would examine and discuss the views thoroughly with the bus company.
(ii) The department understood Members’ concerns about the traffic flow on Kwong Fuk Road, Nam Wan Road and Tolo Highway. It would work with the bus company to explore the possibility of changing the routes of some bus services for diversion purposes, so as to relieve the current traffic congestion and provide residents with speedier bus services to the urban area.
(iii) Regarding Mr. WONG Siu-kin’s enquiries, the department mainly took into account passengers’ needs when considering whether to provide return trip services during the morning peak hours. If there was considerable demand for the routes, the department would work with the bus company to explore the possibility of providing return trips. As shown in the captioned route planning programme, the department had suggested providing return trip services for routes T74 and 74P.
(iv) As regards Mr. LAU Yung-wai’s enquiry about whether the department had referred to the Survey Reports of Public Bus Services in Tai Po District, she said that the department would refer to information obtained from various channels, including the - 28 -
views offered by Members and the public, as well as reports provided by the DC. At this meeting, Members had suggested providing bus services for Island East and Kwai Tsing. The department would carefully consider the feasibility of adjusting certain route services or providing new bus route services. The department would, as always, continue to monitor the daily operation of bus services on a regular basis and follow up on Members’ suggestions on the captioned programme.
56. Mr. HO Wai-lam said that the TD representatives had not provided any specific response to Members’ suggestions, and he did not know when specific responses would be given. The first phase of Area 9 in Tai Po would be completed in 2021. However, in the captioned programme, the department had put forward no suggestions or plans for the area to cater for the population growth there. He hoped that the department would carry out studies in a serious manner and offer specific suggestions as soon as possible.
57. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, said that the department had not responded to Mr. YAM Kai-bong’s proposal to provide bus services for Kwai Tsing District. In addition, he suggested the Chairman also ask the bus company representatives to respond to Members’ views.
58. Mr. WONG Siu-kin asked once again about the timetable for the provision of covers at Wan Tau Tong Bus Terminus.
59. Ms. Flora MA thanked the Chairman for providing supplementary information about the provision of a turnaround area in Ng Tung Chai. She added that smaller buses were allowed on the Ling Wan Monastery section of Lam Kam Road. However, the department would like to set up a turnaround area in Ng Tung Chai to promptly resolve the problem that large buses, such as route 64K buses, were not allowed to enter Lam Tsuen Valley. Other vehicles shorter than the route 64K buses were also allowed to enter Lam Tsuen Valley. In addition, she said that there would be a new public transport interchange at Area 9 in Tai Po, and the relevant information had also been reported at the former Environment, Housing and Works Committee meetings. The department had also proposed in the previous DC term the re-organisation of Fu Heng Bus Terminus, so as to free up more space as the parking and pick-up/drop-off areas for buses. The traffic engineers of the department could provide supplementary information on the issues concerned. Regarding the provision of covers at Wan Tau Tong Bus Terminus, she said that as the works were under the purview of the TPDC and bus company, she had to ask the departments concerned for the information after the meeting, and would pass it to Mr. WONG Siu-kin afterwards.
60. Mr. Richard CHAN did not understand the purpose of Ms. Flora MA’s response. Everyone knew that route 64K travelled past Ling Wan Monastery. However, due to the road restriction at the section near Ling Wan Monastery, the bus company could not deploy buses longer than 12.8 metres for route 64K. Ms. MA’s response would give a wrong impression that they did not know that the bus route travelled past Ling Wan Monastery. - 29 -
61. The Chairman said that matters relating to the road section near Ling Wan Monastery could be followed up later.
62. Mr. TANG Ching-kit thanked Members for their views on the captioned programme, and noted Members’ views on KMB’s services put forward at this and previous meetings. Regardless of whether the suggestions were about the Bus Route Planning Programme, KMB always took follow- up actions. For instance, it had sent representatives to attend every TTC meeting so as to follow up on the bus services in Tai Po District. Apart from gradually taking forward the suggestions in the Bus Route Planning Programme based on the situation, KMB also welcomed Members’ views anytime as their views on the district were very important. Regarding the views that had been put forward by more Members, he would respond briefly as follows and continue to take follow-up actions:
(i) He was not passing the buck. Nonetheless, routes 907B/C and N307 were confirmed before the Chinese New Year, and the commuting patterns of the public had changed after the Chinese New Year and the outbreak of epidemic. While the patronage of the routes concerned was not good at present, they also agreed that they should not decide on the future service arrangement of these routes based on the current patronage. Otherwise, it would be unfair. In addition, regarding the issues concerning route 64K, KMB would continue to follow up on the traffic condition in Lam Tsuen. However, the various road conditions there had imposed a limit on KMB’s services at present. KMB was happy to work with Members so as to improve the traffic condition in Tai Po District.
(ii) Regarding the departure time of route T74 from Kwun Tong Ferry Pier being set at 5:55 p.m., as mentioned by Ms. Olive CHAN, many people had not yet got off work then. However, the decision was made having referred to several evening bus routes from Kwun Tong to the New Territories, such as routes 258X and 259X. As the traffic in Kwun Tong was rather heavy in the evening, the departure time had been brought forward to a time period when the traffic condition was better. As such, buses could reach Kowloon Bay sometime between 6:15 p.m. and 6:20 p.m., depending on the traffic condition of the day. This could meet the needs of passengers who got off work at 6 p.m. He told Members not to worry too much as KMB would, as always, increase service frequency according to passengers’ demand. When the bus services concerned had accumulated a certain number of passengers, KMB would further increase service frequency according to demand.
(iii) As regards the possibility of arranging buses to take other routes to Tolo Highway, KMB maintained an open attitude and was willing to discuss traffic improvement measures with Members.
(iv) Regarding Members’ request to enhance the bus services to Kwai Tsing District, he - 30 -
said that while route 73P was a special service of route 73X, it headed for Kwai Fong and Kwai Hing after leaving Shing Mun Tunnel. Although the route departed from Tai Mei Tuk and might not be able to serve the residents of the entire Tai Po District, KMB had considered Members’ views and would respond in a gradual manner.
(v) KMB was happy to listen to Members’ views on route W3. However, as route W3 covered numerous areas, including North District, Sha Tin and other urban areas, KMB had to take into account the views of other districts as well. Once a plan that was acceptable to the districts concerned had been drawn up, KMB would report to the TD or discuss with Members.
(vi) Whether it was a suggestion on the Bus Route Planning Programme or a comment received during daily operation, KMB was willing to listen, and would have discussions and take follow-up actions with the TD and Members so as to improve its services.
63. Regarding the airbus services, Mr. Rayson LAW responded as follows:
(i) He opined that diverting route A47X to Hong Kong Port could make it easier for Tai Po residents to go there. Regarding the views on the impact of such a change on the journey of the existing passengers, he said that based on the pre-epidemic observations, passengers headed for Hong Kong Port usually boarded the bus after 8:00 a.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays, while passengers going to the airport mainly boarded the bus at about 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. These two groups of passengers had different commuting patterns. Between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. or so and even on holidays, the route had enough room to accommodate additional passengers. Therefore, Long Win believed that the above proposal would not affect the existing passengers going to the airport. If the above proposal had been endorsed, Long Win would examine the actual passengers’ demand and review the service level.
(ii) Long Win noted that Members would like to extend the routes of A and NA route series in Tai Po District, and had been following up on the situation concerned with the TD. However, the processing time was longer than that required for diverting route A47X to Hong Kong Port. As such, it suggested implementing the suggestions that could be taken forward sooner, so as to meet the needs of certain passengers. They would also continue to work with the department to study the feasibility of extending the routes concerned according to the situation.
64. Mr. Simon WONG said that since route N307 began operation in late January, its patronage had been extremely unsatisfactory, and its return trips had less than 10 passengers. Citybus would review the route’s coverage on Hong Kong Island, so as to attract more passengers and increase service frequency.
- 31 -
65. Mr. HO Wai-lam said that Ms. Flora MA seemed to believe that the traffic problems in the district could be resolved simply by expanding Fu Heng Bus Terminus and setting up bus stops at Area 9 in Tai Po. Instead, she had neither responded to his requests nor put forward any specific plans, such as bus route arrangements, etc. He opined that regardless of whether the bus company would follow up on Members’ suggestions, they were at least willing to co-operate, instead of giving empty responses and then believed that follow-up actions had been taken.
66. Mr. AU Chun-ho said that if the department simply expanded Fu Heng Bus Terminus without addressing the traffic congestion on Nam Wan Road, the traffic problems could not be resolved. He indicated that the time required for travelling from Fu Heng to Tai Po Market via Nam Wan Road during the busiest hours in the morning was enough for him to travel to Kowloon. Therefore, if the department did not address the traffic congestion problem on Nam Wan Road first, it would be pointless to put forward other measures.
67. The Chairman said that Members could discuss the captioned programme in detail at the upcoming Working Group on Provision of Public Bus and Minibus Services. If Members did not have any objection, the TTC would not vote on the captioned programme at this meeting. He asked the TD representatives to respond to Members’ views at the relevant working group meetings.
68. Mr. YAM Kai-bong agreed with the Chairman, and hoped that the TD would give specific responses to Members’ views. He opined that if the department did not revise the content of the captioned programme, there would be no need to waste time on further discussion.
V. Request for resuming the same bus frequency as before the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic as soon as possible (TPDC Paper No. TT 15/2020)
69. Mr. YAM Kai-bong outlined the captioned paper.
70. Ms. Flora MA responded as follows:
(i) Due to the outbreak of the epidemic, members of the public often had to work from home, and their commuting patterns had changed considerably. With a lower patronage after the Chinese New Year, the bus company had proposed adjusting the service frequency. Having received the applications from the bus company, the department would decide whether to approve them depending on the weekly patronage of the routes concerned. Not all requests made by the bus company would be approved by the department. The general principles for the department to approve the applications included: (1) The average waiting time for the bus routes concerned should not be increased by more than five minutes. Even for the - 32 -
infrequent bus route services, the average waiting time should not exceed half an hour; (2) The bus company had to ensure that the patronage of each departure should not exceed 70% to 80%, so as not to increase the risk of public infection arising from too many passengers on the buses.
(ii) Regarding the bus routes that Members were more concerned about, such as route 73X, the TD had not approved the bus company to reduce the service frequency during peak hours. In the latest bus service adjustments, the department had only approved KMB to adjust the service frequency during non-peak hours or after 9 p.m. when there were very few passengers. As at today, the department had not approved the bus company to adjust the frequency of any bus services during peak hours.
(iii) In light of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination held today, the department had also asked the bus company to resume the previous school-based routes and enhance the services of certain bus routes. In addition, staff members had also been deployed to inspect the bus services in Tai Po today. The services were in good order in general.
71. Mr. Jeff TAM responded as follows:
(i) The epidemic had led to a significant decrease in bus patronage in every district of Hong Kong. At its worst, it had decreased by more than 40%.
(ii) In addition to serving the public, KMB would also like to operate in a sustainable manner. During the epidemic, KMB adhered to their principles of not making pay cuts and laying off their staff, and did not force their employees to take no pay leave either. As such, to strike a balance between maintaining services and ensuring employment stability, KMB had no choice but to make the inevitable and necessary service adjustments.
(iii) He thanked Members for their views on the bus services during this period of time, which allowed the bus company to improve its services. If KMB was informed by Members or noticed that some of their services required improvements, they would make the adjustments accordingly so as to meet the public’s commuting needs.
(iv) As classes were still suspended, and some companies that had resumed operation had arranged for their employees to work from home again, there was a fluctuation in bus patronage. However, as the worst days of the epidemic were over, KMB would bring their peak-hour services back to the pre-epidemic level starting from 1 May in response to passengers’ demand. In addition, during the epidemic, the commuting patterns of the public in non-peak hours had also changed. For instance, in the past, members of the public often took part in after-work leisure activities before going home. During the epidemic, however, most people would go home immediately after work. As such, it was difficult for KMB to bring their non-peak-hour services - 33 -
back to the pre-epidemic level.
(v) One of the duties of KMB’s field staff was to relay passengers’ demand to the company immediately so that it could decide whether services had to be adjusted. KMB would also continue to deploy their staff to check the public’s demand for bus services and maintain communication with Members, so that it would do even better.
(vi) To prevent the spread of the epidemic, KMB had implemented an array of anti- epidemic measures, including: (1) Installing ventilation windows in the bus compartment for passengers to open when necessary, thereby facilitating the circulation of fresh air; (2) Introducing nano-photocatalyst technology for medical- grade disinfection; and (3) Cleaning the air conditioning system and bus compartment more frequently. KMB would continue to introduce various anti-epidemic measures in response to the development of the epidemic.
72. Mr. WU Yiu-cheong’s comments and questions were as follows:
(i) After the bus company had announced the decrease in bus service frequency due to the epidemic, the Secretary for Transport and Housing (“STH”) had asked the bus company to ensure that the patronage of every bus would not exceed 70% so as to maintain an adequate social distance among passengers. The TD had also stated that if the bus company applied for reducing service frequency due to the epidemic, one of the criteria was that the estimated patronage of the routes concerned after service frequency had been reduced would not exceed 70% even during peak hours.
(ii) He showed a picture taken by him and other Members during the peak hours at 6 p.m., showing a bus compartment of route 73X jam-packed with passengers. He asked the TD and the bus company to explain why the patronage of that bus was so high. He asked why the TD, as the regulator of bus companies, would allow bus compartments to be that crowded.
(iii) Citing eateries as an instance, he said that all dining tables had to be 1.5 metres apart under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Prohibition on Group Gathering) Regulation (“the Regulation”). However, the TD allowed bus compartments to be that crowded. If the TD explained that bus compartments were not subject to the Regulation, he would not accept it as the principles of the Regulation should apply in all situation.
(iv) As eateries were subject to the Regulation, and everyone attending the DC meetings had to be separated by a certain distance during the peak of the epidemic, he asked the TD to explain why it allowed bus compartments to be jam-packed with passengers.
(v) He wondered whether the department had monitored the bus company, and asked whether its staff had personally checked the passengers’ demand for the route - 34 -
concerned before approving the bus company’s application to reduce service frequency. He opined that if the department found the jam-packed bus compartments acceptable and believed that it would not lead to the spread of COVID- 19, there would be no need for the discussion on this agenda item to go on. If the department found it unacceptable, please explain why it was allowed to happen.
73. Ms. Olive CHAN said that she had experienced the situation shown by Mr. WU Yiu-cheong on an occasion when she took route 73X to return from Kwun Tong to Tai Po. The bus compartment was jam-packed with passengers, and she had to remain standing throughout the journey. She opined that after reducing the service frequency, it was impossible to control the bus patronage as passengers would take the same bus due to the reduced service frequency. In addition, the average waiting time for route E41 was 40 to 45 minutes at present, which was also shown in the bus mobile application. However, Ms. Flora MA had just said that one of the criteria for the department to approve the reduction of service frequency was that the bus company had to ensure that the average waiting time for even the infrequent bus route services would not exceed half an hour. As such, she wondered why the waiting time for route E41 had exceeded the requirement by more than 10 minutes. In addition, she had seen hand rubs next to the coin box in some, but not all, buses for use by passengers. Therefore, she asked the bus company whether it was willing to provide hand rubs in all bus compartments to ensure public safety. She also informed the bus company that she had seen some bus drivers not wearing masks.
74. Mr. WONG Siu-kin’s comments and questions were as follows:
(i) He found the bus service arrangement of the TD and bus company during the COVID- 19 epidemic ridiculous. If everyone believed that the distance between people would affect the risk of COVID-19 transmission, the parties concerned should not have reduced bus service frequency. He opined that it was difficult for passengers to maintain a distance from each other after service frequency had been reduced. As a result, bus compartments had become jam-packed.
(ii) Regarding item 1 in the captioned paper, he asked the TD how many days in advance the bus company had to submit the application to the department to reduce service frequency arising from lower patronage due to the epidemic, and what the specific application procedures were.
(iii) Even if the public did not think that there was an outbreak of the epidemic in the community, the bus company still had to reduce service frequency as it was affected by government policies. Therefore, he was worried that if the Government suggested the public go out less often by making use of other reasons in the future, the bus company might see a decrease in its patronage again, and would have to apply for reducing service frequency again. Therefore, he asked the bus company about the specific procedures for reducing service frequency. - 35 -
(iv) KMB representative had just said that to ensure the employment and salaries of their employees remained unaffected during the epidemic, KMB had no choice but to reduce their bus service frequency so as to control costs. If everyone would like to reduce the risk of passengers spreading the virus on the bus, he wondered why the bus company did not ask the Government to compensate for the business losses due to the epidemic, but opted to lower the cost of operation by reducing service frequency.
75. Mr. HO Wai-lam opined that the bus company still ran its business with a profit-oriented mindset when the epidemic was in full force. While he understood that bus patronage had decreased due to the epidemic, he did not agree with the bus company’s arrangement of one bus every 15 to 30 minutes, and some bus services had even been halved. He asked whether the TD agreed with the bus company’s arrangements, and opined that the department had not done a good job monitoring the bus company. He said that all credits went to members of the public who had shown self-discipline by wearing masks and observing personal hygiene during this period. Otherwise, there would be disastrous consequences for the passengers in such crowded compartments.
76. Mr. TAM Yi-pui talked about the delayed bus trips in the morning. He had received complaints from a member of the public, who said that there was often no bus even after waiting for 45 minutes, and the bus services concerned were not shown in the bus mobile application either.
77. Mr. YAM Kai-bong said that Members had been counting the number of buses on-site in the past two months. The information obtained and his comments and questions were as follows:
(i) From 5:50 p.m. to 7:53 p.m. on 9 March, they had counted at the drop-off stop at Kwong Fuk Estate almost 20 full route 74X or 274X buses. After the passengers had alighted, they asked them when they got on board, and learnt that the buses were already full when some of the passengers got on board at Kowloon Bay, Choi Hung and San Po Kong. He said that as these buses were already full, they had bypassed the stops after Kowloon Bay.
(ii) On the same day, they had also counted several full route 271 or 271X buses. (iii) They did not see many full route 73X buses probably because Mr. KWAN Wing-yip, the Chairman, and about six Members were counting the buses in a high-profile manner on that day. However, they still saw several full buses.
(iv) On 9 April, they had also inspected the bus situation at a number of locations, including Kwong Fuk Road, Kwong Fuk Estate and Wang Fuk Court, and found many route 73X and 74X buses full-loaded, especially route 74X. He said that Mr. CHOW Yuen-wai saw many people waiting for route 74X on Kwong Fuk Road after 8:30 p.m. on that day. At 9:15 p.m., there were up to about 40 people, and there - 36 -
were occasions that only one or two managed to squeeze into the compartment.
(v) As some companies had implemented flexible working hours, the number of full buses during non-peak hours had decreased.
(vi) He asked how the TD monitored the bus company. If the department had not approved KMB reducing the service frequency of route 73X, he wondered whether it had approved KMB reducing the service frequency of other bus routes. In addition, he asked how the department would follow up if it learned from other channels that KMB would reduce the service frequency without permission. According to the data he had obtained, route 73X, for instance, had a total of 288 departures each day between January and February 2020, and a total of 8 640 in the entire period. In March, there were only 156 departures per day, and only 4 680 departures in total in the whole month, representing just 54% of the original figure. As a result, passengers had to spend more time waiting for buses.
(vii) Route 74X originally should have 11 640 departures per month. In March, however, there were only about 6 000, representing a decrease of nearly 40%.
(viii) He had obtained from a friend some internal information, which he found credible and could be handed over to the TD.
(ix) Due to the epidemic, the bus company had suffered a 40% decline in patronage and a decrease in revenue. While the bus company had stated that it did not lay off anyone during the epidemic, it did not mean that the staff’s working hours had not been reduced. For instance, drivers of special departures had had their working hours significantly reduced from about 11 hours to eight. Meanwhile, some drivers had been assigned as backup drivers, leading to a drastic reduction in bus services.
(x) On one hand, the bus company controlled costs by reducing service frequency. On the other, it had applied for subsidies, including wage subsidies, from the Government’s Anti-epidemic Fund. Moreover, it continued to receive the original allowances from the Government, and the subsidies provided by the Government for bus companies for repair work. The total amount of subsidies exceeded $1 billion. He opined that while the bus company controlled costs by reducing service frequency, and passengers had to wait longer for buses as a result, it had also received a large amount of subsidies. As such, he asked why it did not use the Government’s subsidies to enhance service frequency as soon as possible, so as to fall in line with the STH’s comments on making the bus compartments less crowded.
(xi) While the staff of government departments might be able to work from home, not all private companies had such an arrangement. Even if they did, employees had to resume their original work arrangements starting from around mid-March. In fact, the staff of government departments also had to return to offices. It was only that the offices were not open to the public. Therefore, the bus company should not - 37 -
respond slowly by continuing to reduce service frequency, which would affect the public.
(xii) As the bus mobile application failed to provide accurate information, members of the public could not obtain the correct information through the application when service frequency had been reduced.
(xiii) He asked the bus company to resume the original service frequency as soon as possible, and explain why the service frequency in March had been drastically reduced, and why the reduction in Tai Po District was greater than that in other districts. For instance, the service frequency of bus routes 89X and 287X, among the busiest ones in Sha Tin District, had been reduced by some 20% only. However, the service frequency of X route series in Tai Po District had been reduced substantially.
78. Ms. Flora MA responded as follows:
(i) The department had not approved KMB reducing the service frequency of routes 73X and 74X during peak hours. As the picture shown by Mr. WU Yiu-cheong was a zoom-in of just part of the compartment, it did not clearly show what the entire bus compartment was really like. That said, the department had been monitoring the bus company’s operation, not only during the epidemic. The department’s staff, including she, carried out on-site inspection every week to look at the situation after bus service frequency had been reduced. If they noticed that the bus patronage had exceeded 70% to 80%, they would ask KMB to increase the service frequency of the bus routes concerned immediately so as to prevent the buses from reaching full capacity.
(ii) Where feasible, the department would ask the bus company to operate additional short-distance routes to enhance service frequency and disperse crowds, thereby reducing the likelihood of buses reaching full capacity. For instance, the service frequency of routes 75K and 75P were enhanced on weekends.
(iii) She acknowledged that the accuracy of certain bus applications was not good, and had asked the bus company to improve their accuracy.
79. Mr. Jeff TAM said that he had seen some pictures on the internet similar to the one shown by Mr. WU Yiu-cheong. As the epidemic came rather quickly and had affected bus services on all fronts, KMB had not done their best in adjusting service frequency. They had also learnt a valuable lesson, and would draw on the experience and refer to the views put forward by Members so as to enhance their services. Starting from 1 May, KMB would definitely bring their service frequency during the peak hours back to the pre-epidemic level. Regarding the questions raised by Members, he responded as follows: - 38 -
(i) Regarding Ms. Olive CHAN’s proposal to put hand rubs in bus compartments, he said that it would take time to buy the hand rubs given the substantial number of KMB buses. During this period, they could only follow the guidelines first by putting hand rubs in the compartments of buses running longer routes and routes with more passengers. However, they would keep in view the situation for further improvements. He added that KMB also provided hand rubs for passengers at some bus terminuses. In addition, KMB provided masks every day for bus captains, who were required to wear them while on duty. Regarding the fact that a bus captain did not have his mask on while on duty, he asked everyone to provide the relevant information, such as the route the license plate number of the bus concerned, for KMB to take follow-up actions.
(ii) As a user of the KMB mobile application, he agreed that it was sub-standard and he apologised to its users at this meeting. KMB was upgrading the software and hardware of the application, and he could also see improvement. However, he opined that there was still room for improvement and would take further follow-up actions.
(iii) He noted Members’ views as regards routes 73X and 74X, and said that KMB had not done their best in adjusting service frequency given the rapid development of the epidemic at the initial stage. They understood that the arrangements concerned had to be improved, and hoped that similar problems would not happen again in the future.
80. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, was not happy with the response given by the TD representative as regards the picture shown by Mr. WU Yiu-cheong. He said that they took the picture when checking the delayed bus trips situation on-site, witnessed how crowded the compartment was, and saw that the passengers were not maintaining the social distance required by the Government. He opined that government officials might be different from the general public as they did not have to travel by buses and MTR. Therefore, they might not know that members of the public had to get on extremely crowded buses during the epidemic as KMB had reduced the service frequency. Although the department had stated that it had not approved KMB reducing the service frequency of the bus routes concerned, Members were only reporting what they had seen to the department. As the TTC meetings could not be held in February and March as scheduled, Members had not been able to report the situation to the departments concerned in a timely manner. If the TD representatives doubted the authenticity of the picture, they could talk to them.
81. Mr. YAM Kai-bong’s questions and comments were as follows:
(i) He asked whether the statistics he had just mentioned regarding the reduced service frequency or the number of departures in March was correct. If yes, it meant that - 39 -
the X route series and route 271 series in Tai Po District had their service frequency reduced by at least 40%. He found such a decrease unacceptable. If the bus company had reduced the service frequency in certain periods only, such a substantial decrease would not be possible. He knew that not all districts had the same reduction in service frequency, and the bus company might explain that this adjustment was based on the commuting patterns of passengers in each district. However, he found it unreasonable as Tai Po District, unlike other districts, had only one bus route travelling to and from every other district (including Tsuen Wan, Kwun Tong, Yau Tsim Mong, Kowloon City, etc.), with no alternatives available.
(ii) He did not intend to pick on any government officials, but hoped that the TD would ask the bus company to provide the relevant data to check whether the afore- mentioned statistics on service frequency reduction were correct. If yes, how would the TD monitor the bus company’s operation, and would it no longer hold the bus company accountable for the unreasonable adjustment of service frequency in March?
(iii) He opined that KMB, as a franchised bus company, of course had a fair share of difficulties. Nonetheless, they should operate bus services in accordance with the approved timetable set out in the Schedule of Services, and should not reduce the service frequency on their own because of low patronage. Even if everyone accepted that KMB could reduce service frequency without the TD’s approval due to reduced patronage, he could not accept such a drastic decrease. For instance, the service frequency of the busiest route 74X had been reduced to 52%, which simply could not meet the needs of the public. He opined that KMB paid less attention to the needs of Tai Po District.
(iv) Bus captains had to work according to KMB’s service timetable. Upon the reduction of service frequency, many passengers had to wait for a long time before getting on board. As a result, they treated the bus captains impolitely, and some even hurled profanities at them, thus giving them added pressure during this period of time. He said that two years ago, for instance, the passengers’ scolding of a bus captain and the road condition had resulted in a traffic accident with a lot of casualties. He opined that if accidents were caused by human factors, the bus company and the TD had to be held accountable. While not everyone was affected by the reduced service frequency, or some might even think that it was not a big deal as they just had to spend a few more minutes waiting for the buses, if the public had to wait longer for the buses, they would definitely scold the bus captain. Although Long Win had also reduced the service frequency of route E41, he understood that the current situation of the airport made it really hard for Long Win to resume the original service frequency. However, he opined that KMB had to resume the original service frequency of X route series and route 271 series in Tai Po District. In addition, he opined that although route 71K did not have a lot of passengers, it was a commuting - 40 -
route in Tai Po District often taken by the residents to travel to and from Tai Po District. Therefore, the bus company should not reduce its service frequency to once every 30 to 40 minutes.
82. Mr. WU Yiu-cheong was not happy with the response given by the TD representative, and opined that she was passing the buck. He said that KMB had at least stated that they would learn from this experience so as to make improvements in the future. However, the TD representative said that the zoom-in effect of the picture he had just shown had made it impossible for her to see the situation in the compartment clearly. He indicated that the picture was taken by himself. That evening, the compartment of a route 73X bus was indeed jam-packed with passengers. It could be seen that the patronage did not meet the requirements of the departments concerned that it should not exceed 70%. Did it mean that the TD’s monitoring efforts were ineffective? If the TD had not approved KMB reducing the service frequency of route 73X, he wondered whether it meant that the TD would not take any follow-up actions even if it had noticed that the patronage of the bus route concerned had exceeded 70% during this period of time.
83. Mr. YIU Kwan-ho opined that Ms. Flora MA could have apologised for the TD’s ineffective monitoring efforts, instead of refusing to admit an obvious mistake. In addition, he opined that the department could provide the relevant information as regards the approval granted to the bus company for reducing service frequency. This would allow Members to compare it with the data they had collected, or to provide the department with their data for comparison, so as to find out whether it was the department or the bus company that had made a mistake. He said that when passengers had to stand in the aisle of the compartment, it meant that the patronage of the bus had exceeded 70%, which was not in line with the TD’s requirement. The department had stated that it would deploy staff for inspection. If they noticed that the patronage had exceeded 70%, they would immediately ask the bus company to enhance the service frequency. However, he wondered if such a practice was feasible. In general, bus captains went to work according to the schedule drawn up by the bus company upon reducing the service frequency. Therefore, even if the department asked the bus company to enhance the service frequency immediately, the bus company would not have enough manpower to do so. He also asked whether the bus company would adopt the approach that Members had seen while they were counting the number of buses on-site, namely, deploying executives as stand-in bus captains. He continued to ask whether the bus company would maintain the service frequency reduction arrangement after the TD’s inspection, and whether the department would stop taking follow-up actions after the inspection, or change the service frequency reduction arrangement that it had originally approved. As the epidemic broke out in January, he did not understand why the bus service arrangements of the department and bus company in March were still unsatisfactory.
- 41 -
84. Mr. Richard CHAN did not understand why the TD representative did not see what Members had witnessed. Citing his own experience, he said that the information provided by Mr. WU Yiu- cheong was admissible evidence in court. In addition, citing the Apology Ordinance (Cap. 631), he indicated that civil servants could apologise under the protection of the law. Regarding Ms. Flora MA’s response, he asked whether the bus company would have violated any franchise-related regulations had it reduced the service frequency without the TD’s approval. Moreover, under the franchise-related regulations, he wondered why the TD had the authority to decide whether to approve the bus company’s application to reduce service frequency. According to Ms. Flora MA, the department’s staff conducting the inspection did not see what Members had witnessed as regards service frequency reduction. In this connection, he said that both the TD’s staff and DC Members were public officials and had the same legal standing. Therefore, he suggested the TD report its suspicion to the Independent Commission Against Corruption that the department’s staff might have made false reports on the afore-mentioned issue after receiving benefits. Alternatively, the department could deploy a senior transport officer to conduct on-site inspection with a DC Member every day. He hoped that the TD representative could give a reply about her choice at the next meeting.
85. Mr. HO Wai-lam opined that KMB had at least admitted the shortcomings in their service frequency arrangements and expressed their willingness to make improvements. However, the TD representative’s response to every question was always that the department had taken follow-up actions, and she had never admitted any shortcomings. He opined that had the service frequency been enough during the epidemic, the public would not have been so displeased and made so many complaints, and the situation would not have been that bad either. This proved that the TD was indeed ineffective in monitoring the arrangements concerned. He then moved an impromptu motion: “Censuring the TD for its failure to monitor in an effective manner the service cancellation, delayed bus trips and patronage of bus company”.
86. The Chairman said that the motion concerned would be dealt with after Members in the queue had finished speaking.
87. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, said that some members of the public had complained to the Secretariat by e-mail that DC Members’ counting of buses on-site had affected the bus company’s operation, and that was not what the public had expected. However, he opined that DC Members had the responsibility to monitor the bus company’s operation. He found the TD representative arrogant, and hoped that she would understand the views of the public and DC Members and take proper follow-up actions. Alternatively, TD officers of a higher rank should be invited to attend the next meeting.
88. Mr. Nick LAM opined that the bus company should have taken the initiative to follow up on the problem of insufficient bus services, instead of taking follow-up actions only after Members had asked them to do so. - 42 -
89. Mr. AU Chun-ho was not happy with the response given by the TD representative as regards the Bus Route Planning Programme and transport planning. He also asked her to be well prepared before attending the TTC meetings.
90. Ms. Flora MA reiterated that the TD had not approved KMB reducing the service frequency of routes 73X and 74X during peak hours. In addition, had the department’s staff conducting the inspection noticed any buses with a patronage of over 70% or 80%, they would immediately ask KMB to increase the service frequency of the bus routes concerned. She said that the department did notice that KMB had reduced the service frequency without permission. As such, it had issued advisory letters to KMB in accordance with the regulatory mechanism concerned, indicating that KMB had to enhance the service frequency of the route services that had been reduced. In addition, the department’s staff would follow up on KMB’s operation records during every inspection. She would also like KMB to explain why it had reduced the service frequency without permission.
91. Mr. Jeff TAM said that the data Mr. YAM Kai-bong had requested from KMB could not be provided at present. He stressed that KMB treated passengers in every district equally, and had neither favoured nor mistreated any of them during service adjustments. In addition, in response to passengers’ demand, several major routes in the district, including routes 73X, 74X, 271 and 71K, had resumed the original level of services during peak hours since the previous week, a move that came earlier than originally planned. Regarding the resumption of peak hour services from 1 May, KMB had also explained to all the passengers via an open platform. The company would continue to improve its services and fulfil the duties it was expected of.
92. Mr. WU Yiu-cheong requested that even if the TD could not give a response at the meeting, it still had to provide information in writing after the meeting regarding the bus services in Tai Po District during the epidemic, and information on the advisory letters issued to KMB, including the total number of advisory letters issued, the date of issuance, the bus routes concerned, etc.
93. Mr. LAU Yung-wai asked about the service frequency reduction initiated by the bus company without permission. He wondered whether the TD could only issue advisory letters as a follow-up action, or if it had other ways of punishment to follow up on the franchised bus companies that did not comply with the agreements on bus service provision. He opined that if the TD noticed such situations during inspection, it could merely issue advisory letters to the bus company, a move that in fact had no impact whatsoever on the bus company. Furthermore, the situation noticed by the department during inspection was just the tip of the iceberg.
94. Ms. Flora MA said that the department had issued advisory letters to KMB for reducing the service frequency of route 73X without permission. As regards the actual number of advisory letters issued by the department, she had to check the records again. She said that the TD issued advisory letters not only when it had noticed during inspection that the bus company had reduced - 43 - service frequency without permission. It also carried out spot checks on the bus company’s operation records from time to time. If it had noticed that the bus company had not provided sufficient services, it would also issue advisory letters. In addition, she was responsible for monitoring the daily operation of the bus routes in Tai Po District only. However, after the meeting, she could ask the colleagues concerned to provide supplementary information on the monitoring of the bus company’s overall operation and the follow-up actions taken.
95. The Chairman said that he would deal with the motion that had just been moved by Members, and read the motion as follows:
“Censuring Ms. Flora MA, Senior Transport Officer of the TD, for her failure to monitor in an effective manner the service cancellation, delayed bus trips and patronage of bus company.”
The motion was moved by Mr. HO Wai-lam and seconded by Mr. WU Yiu-cheong.
96. The Chairman said that the above motion had not been submitted 10 net working days before the meeting. However, as participants were informed of this meeting date at short notice, and he had also approved and accepted the discussion papers submitted by Members at short notice, he decided to accept the above motion. Nonetheless, it did not mean that temporary motions would also be accepted this way in the future. In addition, he understood that Members would like to shed light on how the public travelled by buses in the past few months. However, he opined that the situation was not caused by a single TD officer. As such, he asked whether Members would consider amending the wording and censuring the TD instead.
97. Mr. Richard CHAN opined that it was up to Ms. Flora MA to decide whether to provide the names of other officers concerned for censure.
98. Mr. AU Chun-ho agreed with the Chairman, and opined that they should censure the TD instead of Ms. Flora MA alone.
99. Mr. WU Yiu-cheong agreed with Mr. Richard CHAN’s suggestion, and opined that Ms. Flora MA, who attended this meeting on behalf the TD, should also be censured under the motion concerned.
100. Mr. HO Wai-lam also agreed with Mr. Richard CHAN and Mr. WU Yiu-cheong.
101. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, agreed with Mr. WU Yiu-cheong. However, he opined that if Ms. Flora MA found herself under pressure, she could talk to her supervisor. Nonetheless, as she attended the meeting on behalf of the TD, she herself was the representative of the TD. He also suggested amending the wording of the motion to “Censuring Ms. Flora MA, Senior Transport Officer of the TD, and her supervisor”. - 44 -
102. Mr. HO Wai-lam and Mr. WU Yiu-cheong agreed with the afore-mentioned amendment.
103. Mr. YAM Kai-bong asked whether the Standing Orders had set out how to deal with the number of votes by Members who attended the meeting but did not cast their votes.
104. Mr. Terence LEE said that the Standing Orders did not set out how to deal with such a situation. Meanwhile, the Secretary would not record this situation in the minutes either.
105. The Chairman suggested recording two more situations in the ballot results, namely present without voting, and absent without voting, so as to allow the pubic to find out the situation concerned from the minutes.
106. Members agreed with the suggestion.
107. No Members proposed any further amendments at the meeting. The TTC agreed to vote by open ballot. The Chairman guided the TTC to vote on the motion moved by Mr. HO Wai-lam and the results were as follows:
For: 15 votes Mr. AU Chun-ho Mr. AU Chun-wah Mr. Richard CHAN Ms. Olive CHAN Mr. CHOW Yuen-wai Mr. HO Wai-lam Mr. Nick LAM Mr. LAU Yung-wai Mr. Dalu LIN Mr. MAN Nim-chi Mr. SO Tat-leung Mr. WU Yiu-cheong Mr. YAM Kai-bong Mr. YIU Kwan-ho Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang Against: 0 vote Abstain: 3 votes Mr. LAM Yick-kuen Mr. TAM Yi-pui Mr. WONG Siu-kin Present 1 vote Mr. KWAN Wing-yip without voting: Absent 0 vote without voting: Total: 19 votes
108. The Chairman announced that the motion had been carried.
- 45 -
109. Mr. TAM Yi-pui said that he had abstained from voting as he opined that even if they had censured the departmental representatives, it would not help resolve the problem of delayed bus trips that had already taken place. However, he hoped that the TD would consider Members’ views.
110. The Chairman said that as the epidemic had stabilised, he hoped that the TD and bus company would deal with the issues concerned as soon as possible, and bring the bus service frequency back to the pre-epidemic level.
VI. Request for improving the services of new minibus routes 806A / 806B and improving the public transport services of Pak Shek Kok comprehensively (TPDC Paper No. TT 16/2020 and TT 16A/2020)
111. Mr. YIU Kwan-ho outlined TPDC Paper No. TT 16/2020.
112. The Chairman said that the Railway Development Office of the HyD could not send officers to attend this meeting due to official duties. However, it had provided a written reply on the captioned paper before the meeting. He asked Members to refer to TPDC Paper No. TT 16A/2020.
113. Ms. Flora MA responded as follows:
(i) The TD had been following up on the traffic issues in Pak Shek Kok. However, as the previous TTC meetings could not be held, it was not possible to announce the latest progress of the issues concerned. She hoped to report the progress to Members officially at this meeting.
(ii) The new GMB route 806 series had officially commenced service on 1 March 2020, and the department had been keeping in view its operation. The GMB route series concerned ran from Tai Po to Sha Tin and Ma On Shan. She thanked the TPDC and Sha Tin District Council for their support to the services of the route concerned.
(iii) The department was still considering the proposal to provide a staff resting room at Wan Tau Tong Bus Terminus. She said that there was a guard kiosk set up by the bus company and the TPDO, and part of the road was under the purview of Link REIT. Therefore, the department had to examine which part in the area concerned was public road, where a resting room could be built.
(iv) The department had also received many views earlier from the previous and incumbent DC Members. Some people had even asked her directly about the public transport services heading for Fo Tan. Therefore, the department had arranged for a three-month trial operation of GMB route 28S in mid-February 2020 to enhance the short-distance services heading for Fo Tan. However, their patronage was rather low for the time being. The department would continue to keep in view the - 46 -
patronage of the GMB route concerned. Due to the epidemic, the patronage of all bus and GMB routes had decreased, but it did not mean that the department would accept delayed trips of bus and GMB services.
(v) Due to the suspension of the MTR services at University Station in 2019, the department had arranged for several bus routes bound for Pak Shek Kok. The department and the bus company would continue to examine the possibility of changing the service frequency of the bus routes concerned in line with the commuting patterns of the public. The department would first arrange for certain existing routes to detour to Pak Shek Kok. She said that as people were gradually moving into Pak Shek Kok, the department was paying attention to the commuting patterns of the Pak Shek Kok population and the patronage of public transport. The department would also retain bus route 73X, which travelled past Pak Shek Kok during the morning peak hours. Meanwhile, KMB was also preparing to apply to the department for bus route 73X to detour to Pak Shek Kok at noon and during the evening peak hours. The department would also continue to keep in view the patronage of route 73X buses which travelled to Pak Shek Kok, so as to determine ways to enhance the services concerned and whether to relocate its terminus to Pak Shek Kok.
(vi) KMB would also bring forward the time of the first departure of bus route 272A to 6 a.m. She said that KMB could report to Members on the arrangements.
(vii) The department understood Members’ views on route A47X. Therefore, it had provided a morning departure in early 2020, which departed from the airport and detoured to Pak Shek Kok before returning to Tai Po. However, due to the ongoing epidemic, the departure was suspended after the trial operation in late February. She said that Long Win representatives could report to Members on the development of the bus route concerned.
(viii) As regards bus route 82B, she understood that after the commissioning of MTR Tuen Ma Line, Pak Shek Kok residents hoped that there would be buses heading to Tai Wai directly. The department did not reject the suggestion, and had been proactively discussing with the bus company to explore whether it was possible to incorporate additional routes that headed to railway stations into various bus routes. For example, she said that there were already GMB routes heading for Tai Po Market Station, Fo Tan Station, Sha Tin Station and University Station, and bus routes heading for University Station. However, the department still needed time to observe the traffic flow of some stops. If there was any news, the department would report to Members as soon as possible.
(ix) The department understood that Pak Shek Kok residents would gradually move in by the end of 2020, and most of them would have moved in by 2021. Therefore, in the second half of 2020, the department would continue to enhance the bus services - 47 -
concerned and operate different means of public transport services.
(x) Regarding the construction of a bus interchange on Tolo Highway, the department’s engineers had explained clearly that the two sides of the highway overlapped with the railway track and cycling track respectively, leaving insufficient room for the construction of a bus interchange. If there was any new progress, the department would report to Members. In addition, as the existing bus terminus in Pak Shek Kok still had room for more buses and minibuses, the department would first enhance the public transport services heading to Pak Shek Kok Bus Terminus.
114. Mr. Richard CHAN told the TD and the HKPF that when the new GMB routes 806A and 806B commenced operation, there had been a criminal damage incident at Wan Tau Tong Bus Terminus, with someone smashing the minibuses of the GMB routes concerned. In this connection, he asked how the departments concerned would assist the GMB operators in the arrangements at the bus terminus, and enquired the HKPF about the progress of the investigation into the incident. He understood that the enquiry came somewhat as a surprise that the HKPF might not be able to provide the relevant information at the meeting. He hoped that supplementary information could be provided after the meeting.
115. Mr. YIU Kwan-ho asked whether the GMB operators had submitted to the TD the application for sectional fares on GMB routes 806A and 806B. If yes, he asked whether it was for the Tai Po- bound or Sha Tin-bound road sections. He said that he had asked the GMB operators and the TD about this issue. The GMB operators stated that it had submitted the application concerned, which however had been rejected. On the other hand, the TD stated that the GMB operators had not submitted the application concerned.
116. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, asked whether the TD had considered setting up a transport interchange in Pak Shek Kok similar to the one near Caltex gas station on Fanling Highway. He opined that as there were residential buildings, Science Park Phases 1 to 3, housing estates along the old roads as well as offices near Pak Shek Kok, the department should review the commuting patterns of the public and consider setting up a transport interchange in Pak Shek Kok. If the TD had such an idea, he asked the department to provide supplementary information.
117. Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk said that as the criminal damage case mentioned by Mr. Richard CHAN was still under investigation, it was not appropriate to reveal the investigation progress at the meeting. However, he said that he would ask the officers in charge of the case after the meeting, and would provide Members with supplementary information after the investigation had completed.
118. Ms. Flora MA responded as follows:
(i) The TD was highly concerned about the operators of the new GMB routes 806A / - 48 -
806B, and maintained close liaison with them. After hearing about the criminal damage case at Wan Tau Tong Bus Terminus, the department had asked the GMB operators to notify the HKPF immediately, and the HKPF had also sent officers to follow up on the case.
(ii) Regarding the sectional fares of the new GMB routes 806A / 806B, the GMB routes were mainly followed up by the department’s staff overseeing Ma On Shan area. To her knowledge, the GMB operators intended to provide more fare concessions. However, as regards whether they had applied to the TD for sectional fares, she had to ask the colleagues at the Ma On Shan unit. She added that if the GMB operators found sectional fares feasible, the department usually had no objection.
(iii) Regarding Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman’s proposal to set up a transport interchange in Pak Shek Kok, the department would first fully utilise the existing bus stops and provide as many interchange concessions as possible, so as to provide more bus services for the residents. As Pak Shek Kok residents would move in at the end of 2020, the department was currently reviewing the transfer services and bus stops with the bus company, with a view to enabling the public to use transfer services more often and get on the buses more easily.
119. Mr. Richard CHAN said that he asked the HKPF to do everything possible to prevent criminal damage incidents due to bus stop-related interests in the future. He could not accept that such incidents still occurred in Tai Po District in the current age and day.
120. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, said that he understood the HKPF was still looking into the case. However, he speculated that the reason behind the incident might be similar to that in movie plots, in which a number of GMB operators were competing for minibus parking spaces, and triad members might also be involved. Through this incident, the public would also find out that the TD or the GMB operators might be influenced by other powerful persons when providing new GMB routes at public housing estates. This was not an ideal situation.
121. Mr. Nick LAM said that a member of the public suspected that the HKPF enforced the law selectively when prosecuting illegal parking. The member of the public noticed that the HKPF had only prosecuted private vehicles parked on the road, but did not instigate any prosecution against the illegally parked minibuses. He said that although this situation was still to be confirmed, he hoped that the HKPF would not prosecute certain vehicle types in a selective manner.
122. Mr. YIU Kwan-ho said that the TD would provide additional bus routes detouring to Pak Shek Kok in the second half of 2020. However, he opined that if Kwong Fuk Estate was chosen as the location for the bus terminus, the residents at Kwong Fuk Estate could barely get on the buses. Even if the department provided additional buses detouring to Pak Shek Kok, it would be meaningless. He added that when they initially advised the department to set up a bus interchange - 49 - at Tolo Harbour, the purpose was to allow buses to reach the interchange directly without having to go through the roundabouts numerous times. Meanwhile, the public could also go to other districts directly by taking buses at the bus interchange without having to change buses several times. Although he did not believe that the department could still provide additional bus routes detouring to Pak Shek Kok, he hoped that the department could provide a trial route with a terminus in Pak Shek Kok. If the department decided to arrange for the existing bus routes to detour to Pak Shek Kok, he asked the department which bus routes would be involved.
123. Mr. AU Chun-wah’s questions and comments were as follows:
(i) When considering ways to improve the traffic in Pak Shek Kok, the TD considered not only the fact that residents would move into the area soon, but also the upcoming expansion of Science Park. Although Science Park was not located in Tai Po District, it was connected thereto. As such, the department should also consider these factors when considering ways to improve the traffic in Pak Shek Kok.
(ii) If the department considered Members’ proposal to set up an interchange at Tolo Harbour, the bus company would not have to provide bus routes departing from Pak Shek Kok because the residents there could take the existing bus routes at Tolo Harbour Interchange. Therefore, Members’ proposal was beneficial to both the bus company and Pak Shek Kok residents.
(iii) He did not understand why the department would consider arranging for the existing bus routes to detour to Pak Shek Kok. He believed that not long afterwards, the department would inform Members that it would only provide morning and evening departures rather than whole-day departures due to insufficient population and patronage in the area concerned. As a result, the department still failed to arrange for any bus routes for Pak Shek Kok residents to go to Kwong Fuk Estate, where they could change to other existing bus routes in Tai Po for the urban area. He opined that the TD had not considered such an arrangement.
(iv) He asked whether the department would consider relocating the existing residents’ bus pick-up / drop-off location at University Station to Ma On Shan Line, and using the vacated area at University Station for Pak Shek Kok residents to get on the residents’ buses. He understood that before Ma On Shan Line was put into service, part of University Station had to be reserved for the public to get on and off the residents’ buses. It did not only serve diversion purposes, but could also encourage Ma On Shan residents to take the ERL. Now that Ma On Shan Line had been connected to Shatin Central Link, passengers had direct access to various locations. He asked why the department did not consider allowing Ma On Shan residents to get on and off near Ma On Shan Line, but still asked them to take the ERL at University Station, while arranging for Pak Shek Kok residents to take the residents’ buses heading for University Station. He opined that this move could give the public more - 50 -
options, and the department would not have to worry about ways to provide more bus routes detouring to Pak Shek Kok. He definitely welcomed the department to provide bus routes detouring to Pak Shek Kok. However, according to the current situation, Pak Shek Kok residents had neither enough bus services nor any feeder buses travelling to and from University Station. That was why Members criticised the department.
(v) He hoped that the department could seriously consider the suggestions, rather than being indifferent to them as it always had been.
124. The Chairman said that he hoped that the staff of the TD and the bus company would follow up on Members’ views. He suggested this issue be discussed in detail at the next meeting of the Working Group on Provision of Public Bus and Minibus Services, and the operators of GMB routes 806A/806B could also be invited to attend the meeting. Meanwhile, Members would continue to follow up on the traffic issues in Pak Shek Kok.
125. The Chairman announced a lunch break, and the meeting would resume at 2:30 p.m.
126. The meeting resumed afterwards.
VII. Matters relating to the improvement of road safety facilities on Lam Kam Road and the provision of pedestrian crossing facilities like traffic lights near Chung Uk Tsuen (TPDC Papers No. TT 17/2020, TT 18/2020 and TT 19/2020)
127. Mr. Richard CHAN outlined TPDC Paper No. TT 17/2020.
128. Mr. PANG Hiu-fung responded as follows:
(i) In principle, the TD did not support the installation of “fisheye mirrors” on public roads, as the reflected images were so different from the actual situations that motorists would misjudge the positions, distances and speeds of oncoming vehicles, thus leading to traffic accidents easily. The department was always concerned about the traffic safety in the district. If there were obstacles at the junction between a minor road and a major road, and they were blocking motorists’ sight, the department would review the situation and propose the relevant traffic improvement measures as appropriate, while DC Members would be consulted as well.
(ii) Regarding the situation at the junction of She Shan Road, the department had implemented preliminary improvement measures. For instance, it would change the road markings and traffic signs at the junction between She Shan Road and Lam Kam Road so that vehicles had to stop at the junction. In addition, the department would - 51 -
also consider moving the lamp post backwards so as not to block the motorists’ sight.
(iii) He would follow up on the situations in Pak Ngau Shek and Shui Wo Tsuen.
129. Mr. Richard CHAN asked the department to follow up on a tree at the junction of She Shan Road. In addition, he said that he would submit a discussion paper on the traffic issues on Tai Wo Service Road West for discussion at the next TTC meeting.
130. Mr. LAM Yick-kuen said that the said problems existed in the entire Tai Po District. As such, he asked the departments concerned to take follow-up actions in a gradual manner.
131. The Chairman said that although the TD would not set up “fisheye mirrors”, he asked whether the department would object to it if the TPDC installed “fisheye mirrors” at road junctions using the resources provided for minor works.
132. Mr. LAM Yick-kuen said that as it might take the Government years to set up “fisheye mirrors”, many village heads opted to install them on their own. Apart from the installation of “fisheye mirrors”, he asked whether the department could suggest better alternatives that could rectify the traffic problems at the junction concerned.
133. Mr. PANG Hiu-fung said that as he had mentioned earlier, the TD did not support the installation of “fisheye mirrors”. However, the department would implement other measures to ensure that no obstacles were blocking motorists’ sight at the junction. For instance, trees and street lights would be relocated, and traffic signs changed.
134. Mr. Richard CHAN asked whether the department would consider widening the junction concerned. He said that as Mr. LAM Yick-kuen had mentioned, the junctions between minor roads and major roads in many villages in Tai Po District were very narrow, and the situation on She Shan Road was especially serious due to the bends beside it. Therefore, if the department disagreed with the installation of “fisheye mirrors” at the location concerned, but would simply relocate the lamp posts or ask motorists to stop behind the double white lines, motorists on the minor road would not be able to see the vehicles running on the major road, and the traffic problems arising from the roadside bends would remain unresolved.
135. Mr. PANG Hiu-fung said that he had inspected She Shan Road earlier, and opined that the main problem with the road section concerned was motorists’ sight. The department would first repair the junction concerned in the way he had just suggested. In addition, he would work with the DC Members concerned to see if other junctions also needed improvement.
136. Mr. Alex LAM said that the department had been receiving views from many DC Members who requested the widening of various junctions along Lam Kam Road, including those at Ng Tung - 52 -
Chai, Hang Ha Po, Pak Ngau Shek, etc. The department issued a works order in 2019 for the HyD to carry out minor widening works at the junction at Ng Tung Chai. In addition, in 2015 and 2016, someone had suggested widening the junction on She Shan Road. However, as the junction involved issues relating to slopes and private land, the department had to resolve them in a gradual manner. When he used to oversee Lam Tsuen area in the past, he also found it necessary to rectify the problems at the junctions on She Shan Road and Shui Wo Road. He would discuss ways of improvement with the DC Members of the constituencies concerned in the future.
137. The Chairman suggested the department’s engineers contact Mr. LAM Yick-kuen and Mr. Richard CHAN after the meeting so as to carry out inspection at the junctions they were concerned about. The junctions in urgent need of improvement had to be dealt with first, while the junctions that had not been mentioned should be followed up as well.
138. Before outlining TPDC Paper No. TT 18/2020, Mr. Richard CHAN asked the representatives of the HKPF and the TD about the vehicle speed limit for Lam Kam Road.
139. Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk responded that if there were no speed limit signs at the road section concerned, the speed limit was 50 kilometres per hour (“km/h”).
140. Mr. PANG Hiu-fung responded that the speed limit for the road section concerned was 50 km/h.
141. Mr. Richard CHAN said that to his understanding, the speed limit for the road section concerned was not 50 km/h, but 70 km/h instead. Although no speed limit signs were put up at the road section concerned, there was a road sign indicating that access was prohibited for vehicles with a length of 11 metres or more . However, he had never seen any department taking law enforcement actions according to the requirement. As a result, there were speed limit and traffic safety problems at the road section concerned. In addition, illegal racing had resumed on Lam Kam Road recently. Even though he lived in Tai Po Kau, he could still hear the sounds of sports car engines. Therefore, he believed that the noise also affected other parts of Tai Po District. As speed limit signs were absent at the road section concerned, vehicles ran at a high speed there. As such, he hoped that the department concerned could put up speed limit signs there to serve as a reminder for motorists. It could even set up speed enforcement cameras (“SECs”) so that motorists who were found speeding there would have their licenses suspended, which was the same way it dealt with the speeding motorists on Ting Kok Road.
142. Mr. TAM Yi-pui said that there was illegal racing on Sai Sha Road too. As such, he suggested the department explore ways to limit the vehicle speed there. He opined that speeding not only caused traffic accidents and threatened people’s lives, but could also affect animals as there were plenty of them in the rural areas. He said that DC Members might submit papers to discuss the noise problems. He understood that the purpose of imposing a speed limit of 70 km/h at the road - 53 - section concerned was to prevent traffic congestion. He asked the TD whether the proposed traffic lights in Sai Keng Village could curb speeding.
143. Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang said that someone had hurled a sizeable rock onto Fanling Highway earlier to allegedly show his dissatisfaction with the noise of illegal racing that had affected the villagers. In this connection, he asked whether the department had put in place any measures, such as setting up SECs or road signs at the road section concerned, so as to prevent illegal racing.
144. Mr. PANG Hiu-fung responded as follows:
(i) In response to Mr. TAM Yi-pui’s enquiry, he said that the speed limit for Lam Kam Road was 50 km/h. According to the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374), the speed limit for all roads was 50 km/h unless otherwise specified. Therefore, it was not necessary to put up speed limit signs of 50 km/h. The department would put up speed limit signs only when the speed limit for a road changed from the original to 50 km/h. The purpose was to remind motorists that there was a change from the original speed limit.
(ii) When considering the locations for setting up additional SECs, the department and the HKPF took into account a number of factors, such as traffic accident records, the degree of speeding mentioned on the speeding tickets issued by the HKPF, the potential dangers caused by speeding, whether the locations concerned were on important roads and trunk roads with high vehicle speeds and traffic flow, and the geographical and environmental factors relating to the carriageways. At present, SECs had been set up on Lam Kam Road near Kadoorie Farm, and the department had not set up any SECs on other parts of Lam Kam Road for the time being. However, it would keep a close watch on the speeding problem at the road section concerned, and would consider in a timely manner whether it was necessary to set up additional SECs as appropriate in accordance with the relevant guidelines.
145. Regarding the issue of vehicle speed limits mentioned by Mr. Richard CHAN, Mr. YAM Kai- bong’s comments and questions were as follows:
(i) The TD had stated that it would not put up speed limit signs on roads where the speed limit was 50 km/h. However, the public and DC Members had indeed seen and heard vehicles running on the road concerned at a speed beyond the limit of 50 km/h. As such, he asked whether the HKPF had set up any mobile SECs on Lam Kam Road. If yes, he would like the HKPF to provide the number of cases involving vehicles running beyond the speed limit. He said that if there were such cases but the TD neither implemented any improvement measures nor set up SECs at the road section concerned to deter the speeding motorists, it would constitute a dereliction of duty on - 54 -
the part of the department as its failure to implement any improvement measures could endanger the villagers and most of the public who got off the vehicles and crossed the road section there. Therefore, he asked whether the HKPF had the number of such prosecutions, and whether it had set up mobile SECs. He also asked the TD what improvement measure it would take if the HKPF’s statistics showed a large number of prosecutions whenever SECs were set up.
(ii) He indicated that as a motorist, he would naturally accelerate if there were not too many vehicles ahead. Therefore, even on a road with a speed limit of 50 km/h, if there were not too many vehicles ahead, motorists would accelerate inadvertently. Although the traffic regulations concerned stated that the TD needed not put up speed limit signs on roads with a speed limit of 50 km/h, he opined that if the TD could do so, it would help remind motorists not to accelerate inadvertently.
146. Mr. LAM Yick-kuen said that many residents had asked him about the speed limit. He said that as most of the roads in the villages were straight roads, motorists tended to drive at a higher speed. However, as no speed limit signs had been put up on these roads, he asked whether the department would set up restriction signs at the road sections in front of village entrances to slow down the motorists. To his knowledge, the speed limit on some of the busier roads in London would be lowered to 20 miles per hour. He asked whether any restriction signs of lower speed limits were available in Hong Kong to remind motorists to slow down.
147. Further to Mr. YAM Kai-bong’s enquiries, Mr. Richard CHAN asked the HKPF about the number of prosecutions against speeding detected by the SECs on Lam Kam Road near Kadoorie Farm. He also indicated that the HKPF had not responded whether it had taken any law enforcement actions regarding the prohibition on entry to Lam Kam Road for vehicles longer than 11 metres, and whether the TD had any measures to facilitate HKPF’s law enforcement actions.
148. Mr. TAM Yi-pui had asked the HKPF via e-mail about the setting up of SECs on Sai Sha Road, and asked the HKPF to reply to him once the information was available. In addition, he said that he had received suggestions from the public to set up SECs, and also understood that there would definitely be objections against it as it would impose a limit on how fast the motorists could drive. Therefore, he suggested the department set up restriction signs of 60 km/h at the road section concerned so that motorists would be subject to this speed limit. Otherwise, when everyone was driving at a speed of 60 to 70 km/h, traffic safety problems would not be resolved.
149. Mr. PANG Hiu-fung thanked Members for their views. He would relay the views to the department’s colleagues for consideration.
150. Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk responded as follows:
- 55 -
(i) He believed that the prohibition on entry to the restricted area on Lam Kam Road for vehicles longer than 11 metres had been in place for more than ten years. He said that during the HKPF’s non-scheduled operations, including anti-crime patrols and the handling of speeding and drug driving cases, if a vehicle longer than 11 metres was found to be entering the restricted road section, it would be stopped and prosecuted. However, he said that as the discussion paper did not ask for the number of prosecutions, he did not have the information at present, and had to check with his colleagues at the New Territories North Police District.
(ii) The HKPF had been carrying out non-scheduled operations against speeding, drink driving and drug driving in various parts of Tai Po District, not only on Lam Kam Road. He believed that Members should have seen the HKPF intercept the vehicles concerned. In addition, other methods for prosecuting speeding motorists included: (1) Using unmarked police vehicles to chase and follow; (2) Setting up police checkpoints on the roads ahead, while using laser guns to detect speeding vehicles and issuing penalty tickets on the spot; (3) Using radar speed detectors and prosecuting non-compliant motorists at a later time; and (4) Using SECs, such as those set up on Lam Kam Road near Kadoorie Farm. He said that the HKPF took law enforcement actions against speeding on a regular basis.
(iii) In addition to taking law enforcement actions against speeding frequently, the HKPF also dealt with noise problems. If the Traffic New Territories North or the Traffic Wing of Tai Po Police District found any defective vehicles, it would issue defective vehicle notices to the vehicle owners, requiring them to hand their vehicles over to the TD for checking.
(iv) If a vehicle was found to be non-roadworthy, the HKPF would issue a vehicle examination notice and immediately send the vehicle to Tai Lam Chung Vehicle Examination Centre, where the Transport Officers of the TD would examine the vehicle and prosecute the vehicle owner for the defects on the vehicle.
(v) In the fourth quarter of 2019 and from January to February 2020, the HKPF had issued 111 and 21 defective vehicle notices respectively. In the fourth quarter of 2019 and from January to February 2020, the HKPF had also impounded 22 and 3 vehicles respectively in Tai Lam Chung Vehicle Examination Centre.
(vi) Regarding the speed limit signs, he said that if no such signs had been set up on the road, the speed limit was 50 km/h unless there was a change in vehicle speed. For Ting Kok Road, for example, as the speed limit changed from 50 km/h to 80 km/h, a speed limit sign of 80 km/h had been put up on the road to remind motorists of the change in speed limit. In addition, for Tai Po Tai Wo Road, for example, there were no speed limit signs on the entire road as the speed limit was 50 km/h throughout. He believed that motorists were generally aware of such a rule.
- 56 -
151. The Chairman asked the HKPF to provide Members with the figures concerned via the Secretariat after the meeting, including the number of prosecutions initiated by the HKPF in 2019 against vehicles longer than 11 metres for entering Lam Kam Road. In addition, he also asked the TD’s engineers to study Members’ proposal to put up speed limit signs and SECs, so as to address the speeding problem on the road concerned.
152. Mr. LAM Yick-kuen suggested the HKPF consider setting up regional speed detectors in Lam Tsuen, as the illegal racing route usually spanned from Lam Tsuen to Pat Heung. Setting up speed detectors on the route was more practical as it could help prosecute speeding motorists without affecting the villagers.
153. Mr. Richard CHAN said that the HKPF might have misunderstood what he meant. He indicated that illegal racing on Lam Kam Road not only created noise problems, but also led to speeding. However, the HKPF had not responded to the question about the law enforcement actions against illegal racing. He also asked whether the TD had any measures to improve the road section concerned. He said that vehicles running from Tai Mo Shan to Lam Kam Road and Tolo Highway would affect the road safety of the entire Tai Po District. Therefore, he asked the HKPF to respond to it. In addition, with regard to defective vehicles, he asked whether the public could still call the pollution complaint hotline to report vehicles that emitted black smoke on the road, so as to allow the department concerned to take follow-up actions.
154. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, opined that the replies from the representatives of the HKPF and the TD to the question raised by Mr. YAM Kai-bong were not satisfactory. He opined that those involved in speeding did not abide by the law, but the departments concerned did not take any law enforcement actions either. To his understanding, the SEC on Lam Kam Road near Kadoorie Farm was situated at the beginning of the ramp. The Tai Po-bound vehicles would go towards the ramp at a high speed, before reaching a plateau, then a right turn and a left turn. He asked whether the HKPF would consider setting up mobile SECs. The reason was that motorists driving from Route Twisk Roundabout to Kadoorie Farm had to go through a winding ramp. Not even sports cars could to go fast on that road section, and they had to reach the top of the ramp before accelerating. However, they would definitely drive past the SECs before accelerating, which was not difficult to understand. Therefore, he asked about the SECs’ coverage. He opined that if the department concerned could set up mobile SECs at the end of the ramp on an irregular basis, it would help deter drivers from engaging in illegal racing. He believed that if someone was speeding, but the department concerned neither took law enforcement actions nor set up SECs, it was in effect condoning illegal racing.
155. Mr. PANG Hiu-fung said that the department would proactively consider setting up SECs on Lam Kam Road. In addition, he would follow up on the pollution complaint hotline after the meeting and then report to Mr. Richard CHAN.
- 57 -
156. Regarding Mr. TAM Yi-pui’s enquiry about setting up of SECs on Sai Sha Road, Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk said that as the New Territories South Police District was responsible for the law enforcement efforts of Sai Sha Road, it would be more appropriate for the colleagues at the Traffic New Territories South to respond to Mr. TAM’s enquiry. In addition, regarding Mr. Richard CHAN’s enquiry about whether the HKPF had taken any law enforcement actions against speeding on Lam Kam Road, he said that the Traffic New Territories North adopted the several methods he had just proposed to prosecute speeding motorists not only on Lam Kam Road. It also took non- scheduled law enforcement actions at different locations. He said that, for instance, if someone was found speeding on Lam Kam Road, the HKPF would follow the vehicle concerned. Although it might not be able to intercept the vehicle on Lam Kam Road, the HKPF would eventually do so on some other roads and prosecute the offender later. As information had become easily accessible nowadays, if motorists knew that certain road sections had been equipped with fixed speed detection equipment, they might use the headlamps of their vehicles to alert other motorists to the presence of such equipment nearby. Therefore, the HKPF would review whether the methods for prosecuting speeding motorists at the road section concerned were appropriate. He said that, for instance, the HKPF used radar speed detectors on Ting Kok Road from time to time, or employed other methods to detect vehicle speed on Tolo Highway and Fanling Highway. If necessary, he could ask the colleagues at the Traffic New Territories North for the figures on the relevant law enforcement actions, and circulate the reply via the Secretariat for Members’ information.
157. Mr. LAM Yick-kuen asked whether the departments concerned would refer to the approach of the United Kingdom (“UK”), where some cameras were specifically used for taking photos of vehicles that emitted black smoke on busy roads. He opined that such equipment was somewhat useful. Moreover, in light of limited manpower, the department could rely on advanced technology to initiate prosecution. If such equipment was available, he suggested setting it up in Tai Po District.
158. The Chairman said that very few vehicles, if any, emitted black smoke on the roads of Hong Kong in recent years.
159. Mr. Richard CHAN’s comments were as follows:
(i) He was not picking on any departments However, he opined that as the paper had been submitted for the discussion on Lam Kam Road, he hoped that the departments concerned could prepare sufficient information before the meeting. Except for not having specified in the submitted paper that vehicles longer than 11 metres were prohibited on Lam Kam Road, he had stated clearly the discussion on the traffic safety on Lam Kam Road. Therefore, he was disappointed that the departments concerned could not respond to his enquiries.
(ii) He was especially concerned about the illegal racing on Lam Kam Road. After the - 58 -
races on Tai Mo Shan were over, the vehicles would head towards Lam Kam Road at a high speed. If the vehicles found it impossible to speed along Lam Kam Road, the route of illegal racing would be cut off, and the races would be over. Therefore, the road sections on Lam Kam Road were the key to whether illegal racing could proceed. Illegal racing activities on Lam Kam Road had been going on for years, and were not something new. Therefore, he hoped that the HKPF could do its job properly by taking law enforcement actions.
(iii) As illegal racing usually took place at night and in the early hours, he suggested the HKPF set up SECs especially during these hours at different locations on Lam Kam Road, and inform the public of their locations in a high-profile manner so as to alert them and ensure safety at the road section concerned. He opined that the HKPF should not focus on how to prosecute the offenders and issue more penalty tickets, as the purpose of setting up these cameras was to remind motorists to drive safely.
160. Mr. MAN Nim-chi’s questions were as follows:
(i) Regarding Mr. LAM Yick-kuen’s suggestion, he asked whether the existing technology of the HKPF and the TD could calculate the speed of a vehicle running from one place to another.
(ii) To his knowledge, the HKPF had put dummy traffic police officers on the roads some years ago to deter motorists. While he found it ineffective, the HKPF could thereby remind motorists that they would be penalised for speeding, which included being ticketed and receiving demerit points. Therefore, when the HKPF stated not long ago that motorists being aware of the locations of speed enforcement equipment would lead to a decrease in the number of prosecutions and hence the failure to crack down on speeding, he found it unreasonable.
161. Mr. AU Chun-ho said that illegal racing took place in many parts of Tai Po District, not only on Lam Kam Road, but also in Tai Mei Tuk, Bride’s Pool Road and even Tai Wo Road in town centre. He believed that the department concerned could put an end to the problem by setting up a number of SECs at different road sections. The problem could not be resolved merely by the mobile SECs set up by the HKPF at different road sections. Therefore, he asked the TD about the requirements for setting up SECs.
162. Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk responded as follows:
(i) The HKPF did not only rely on the setting up of SECs or anti-speeding image- recording devices on the roads to prosecute the speeding motorists. During various law enforcement actions, including crackdown on drink driving, speeding, dangerous driving and other anti-crime operations, the HKPF would set up roadblocks on - 59 -
different roads, including Lam Kam Road. Therefore, the HKPF would not stop using SECs because of its ineffectiveness. Setting up SECs was just one of the ways for the HKPF to prosecute speeding. Subject to the road section concerned and other factors, the HKPF would exercise flexibility in deciding how to prosecute speeding.
(ii) The HKPF carried out non-scheduled prosecution operations against speeding on Lam Kam Road. He would submit the relevant prosecution figures to the Secretariat after the meeting for Members’ reference.
(iii) As regards whether the public could still call the pollution complaint hotline to report vehicles emitting black smoke on the road, he said that the defective vehicle report form was available on the TD’s website. Members of the public could complete and submit it to the TD for follow-up actions.
(Post-meeting note: The replies mentioned in paragraphs 151, 156 and 162(ii) above had been sent to Members by e-mail on 14 May 2020.)
163. Mr. PANG Hiu-fung reiterated that the criteria for setting up SECs included: traffic accident records, the prevalence of speeding cases, the potential risks caused by speeding, whether the locations concerned were on important roads and trunk roads with high vehicle speeds and traffic flow, and the geographical and environmental factors relating to the carriageways, etc.
164. Mr. AU Chun-ho said that according to the afore-mentioned criteria for setting up SECs, he opined that Lam Kam Road and Ting Kok Road had already met them as all the traffic accidents there had been very serious. As such, he asked why the department did not set up SECs there to put an end to illegal racing.
165. Mr. PANG Hiu-fung said that the department would proactively consider setting up SECs on Lam Kam Road. However, as there were no specific plans for the time being, he could not promise to accept the request.
166. The Chairman told the HKPF representatives that he had recently received more complaints about illegal racing than he did in the past, and the racing did not only take place on Lam Kam Road or Ting Kok Road. Therefore, he asked the department concerned to pay attention to illegal racing on Yuen Shin Road and Tai Wo Road as well.
167. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, said that there were some spherical road markings on certain roads, with the speed limit requirements written on them. He asked the department whether it was feasible to put these road markings on Lam Kam Road, or the department did not recommend adding them.
- 60 -
168. Mr. Alex LAM said that when adding road markings, relevant road signs had to be placed next to them as well. Furthermore, this kind of markings was added only when there was a change in speed limit. When vehicles left Fanling Highway and turned into the junction at Lam Kam Road, the speed limit changed to 50 km/h. As such, a speed limit sign was put up at the junction to remind motorists that the speed limit at the road section concerned was 50 km/h. As the speed limit for the afore-mentioned road section remained unchanged, no speed limit sign was put up there. He believed that motorists were also aware that the speed limit for a road without any speed limit sign was 50 km/h.
169. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, said that there had to be roads where the speed limit was not 50 km/h, such as the southbound road from Tai Mo Shan to somewhere near Kadoorie Farm. He asked whether the department had put up any speed limit signs along such roads.
170. Mr. Alex LAM said that the department would definitely put up speed limit signs on roads where there was a change in speed limit. However, if there was no change, motorists would understand that the speed limit was 50 km/h.
171. Mr. Richard CHAN said that the department concerned was repeating some common knowledge that everyone knew, and it would not help resolve the speeding problem on Lam Kam Road. He asked the department concerned to proactively consider putting up more speed limit signs on Lam Kam Road and further remind the motorists to pay attention to road safety. In his opinion, Mr. Alex LAM only said that it was a usual practice for the department to put up speed limit signs only when there was a change in speed limit, which meant that it was a practice under normal circumstances. Nonetheless, given that the usual practice currently adopted could not resolve the speeding problem on Lam Kam Road, they found it necessary to put up more speed limit signs on Lam Kam Road.
172. Mr. YAM Kai-bong said that as indicated by the department’s engineers, if there was no change in the speed limit at the road section concerned, the department would not put up any speed limit signs. However, he saw many speed limit signs on expressways, which made him wonder why. He said that the department might explain that expressways were different from other roads in general as they had to meet the requirements under the Road Traffic (Expressway) Regulations. He indicated that the road section between Lam Kam Road Roundabout and Route Twist was five to six kilometres long, but there was only one speed limit sign at the entrance. He asked whether it was reasonable. He wondered whether the department would not put up any speed limit sign as long as there was no change in the speed limit, even if the road was ten kilometres long or connected to other road sections along the way. He said that if the above-mentioned approach was based on the law, the law should be amended. If not, speed limit signs should be put up. He opined that motorists tended to act according to their habits or under the influence of inertia, which meant that they would accelerate inadvertently if there were no vehicles ahead. He opined that even if there was no change in the speed limit, more speed limit signs and SECs should be set up on longer roads. - 61 -
By doing so, the department would have justifications for prosecuting motorists for speeding in the future.
173. Mr. LAM Yick-kuen asked, if the department found it difficult to set up SECs, whether it would draw on the experience from the rural villages or schools in foreign countries, where image capturing devices had been set up to detect driving speed and remind motorists to pay attention to how fast they were driving. He also asked whether the department could set up such devices in the rural areas or at road bends.
174. Mr. PANG Hiu-fung thanked Members for their views. He said that under normal circumstances, if the speed limit of a road was 50 km/h, the department would not put up any 50 km/h speed limit sign. If the speed limit of an expressway was 100 km/h, the department would put up multiple speed limit signs to remind motorists of the road restrictions.
175. Mr. Richard CHAN outlined TPDC Paper No. TT 19/2020.
176. Mr. PANG Hiu-fung said that the installation of traffic lights involved a number of procedures, including removing trees, relocating underground facilities and paving new underground public facilities. The traffic light installation works concerned had been more or less completed and was tentatively scheduled to begin operation on 29 April.
177. Mr. SIU Wai-kwan said that the works concerned were under the purview of the HyD. Despite the numerous difficulties presented by the works earlier, the department had managed to resolve them, and expected that the traffic lights could commence operation by the end of April.
VIII. Matters relating to the provision of interchange facilities at Hong Lok Yuen roundabout (TPDC Paper No. TT 20/2020)
178. Mr. Richard CHAN hoped that the department concerned would submit information relating to the captioned paper so that he and Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang could follow up on the issues concerned. He said that transport interchanges had been set up in many places. There was a large plot of land next to Hong Lok Yuen Roundabout on Lam Kam Road, and he heard that someone had proposed setting up a transport interchange at Hong Lok Yuen Roundabout at previous DC meetings. He indicated that if he had to travel from Nam Wa Po to Pak Ngau Shek, apart from driving, he could only take public transport heading to Tai Po Market and then make a transfer to get there. However, the process was very complicated. Furthermore, North District residents also disagreed that the vehicles in their district could not enter Tai Wo Service Road West. However, as Hong Lok Yuen Roundabout was located in the middle of Lam Kam Road, setting up an interchange there could facilitate transport planning and boost transport usage rate in Tai Po District. In this connection, he asked the departments concerned about the works progress since the proposal to set up an - 62 - interchange at Hong Lok Yuen Roundabout had been put forward.
179. Ms. Flora MA said that she had responded to the suggestion at the previous DC. She said that there were difficulties in setting up an interchange at Hong Lok Yuen Roundabout, and Mr. PANG Hiu-fung could respond to this issue later. At present, the department would first set up a turnaround area at Ng Tung Chai and review the outcome. It would also pay attention to the housing development in Lam Tsuen Valley before reviewing if was necessary to set up an interchange at Hong Lok Yuen Roundabout. She explained that there were difficulties in setting up an interchange at Hong Lok Yuen Roundabout, and it might not be highly effective either.
180. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, opined that the TD representative’s response defied logic. Citing Kwong Fuk Roundabout as an example, he said that it used to be a two-lane roundabout, and had subsequently been converted to a three-lane one. As vehicles could enter Tai Po Market directly via the left lane without having to stop because of adjacent vehicles cutting into their lane, part of the traffic had become smoother accordingly. At the centre of Lam Kam Road Roundabout, which was referred to as Hong Lok Yuen Roundabout by Mr. Richard CHAN, was a large lawn and a TPDC welcome sign. He asked whether the departments concerned had explored ways to improve the roundabout in case the traffic at Lam Kam Road Roundabout was overloaded or congested. Proposed measures included, but not limited to, setting up an interchange at the roundabout for changing to other public transport (including buses and minibuses), as vehicles could go from there to Tolo Harbour or Kowloon, or from Tai Wo to Tai Po District and then Kadoorie Farm. He said that the proposals were just some ideas. The department should not wait for the population there to grow in the future before considering what to do. He said that this issue was not limited to Lam Tsuen Valley. The departments concerned should think about different issues in advance, rather than disregarding them in the belief that there were no pressing needs.
181. Mr. Richard CHAN said he noticed that the issues covered by the captioned paper were the same as the fourth discussion item in agenda item IX. As such, he asked the Chairman whether they would be discussed in this agenda item as well.
182. Mr. AU Chun-ho suggested the department concerned consider problems from a forward- looking perspective. Otherwise, it could only resolve problems in the short run, and other problems would arise years later. He said that to his knowledge, Mr. AU Chun-wah often said that he had proposed widening Ting Kok Road more than a decade ago. Back then, however, the departments concerned had stated that there was no statistics showing the need to widen Ting Kok Road. As such, the proposal had not been accepted. This had led to the development problems along Ting Kok Road at present.
183. The Chairman suggested discussing the captioned issue in detail in the fourth discussion item in agenda item IX.
- 63 -
IX. Matters to be followed up by the TTC (TPDC Papers No. TT 21/2020 and TT 22/2020)
(1) Request for more parking spaces in Tai Po
184. Ms. Summer LEE said that the TD would continue to implement measures to provide more parking spaces in the district, including providing more on-street parking spaces appropriately without affecting road safety and other road users. In addition, the department would also continue to maintain contact with other departments to identify suitable government land that had not been planned for long-term development and was temporarily idle, so as to use it for short-term tenancy car parks. Currently, seven sites in Tai Po District were being used as temporary short-term tenancy car parks, providing a total of 1 100 parking spaces. In addition, the Government would follow the principle of “single site, multiple use” to provide public car parking spaces at suitable GIC facilities. At present, the department planned to provide public parking spaces at two government projects, including Area 1 and Area 33 in Tai Po.
185. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, said that Members had suggested at the TTC meetings of the previous term DC that the TD should explore which less-frequented roads in Tai Po District could be used for providing parking spaces. It was also suggested that the department review the traffic flow statistics to identify places in Tai Po District where metered parking spaces were provided, such as Dai Fat Street in Dai Kwai Street at Tai Po Industrial Estate, so as to assess whether more parking spaces could be provided there. He opined that illegal parking in the district was not only attributable to law enforcement problems, but was also related to the road design and planning of the TD. In his constituency, for example, the traffic on On Cheung Road and On Chee Road was the heaviest. However, there was a serious shortage of parking spaces in the vicinity, including the commercial vehicle parking spaces, monthly parking spaces and temporary parking spaces provided by housing estates. Therefore, in addition to the provision of public parking spaces at the government projects in Area 1 and Area 33 in Tai Po, the TD could also explore the possibility of providing additional on-street parking spaces, constructing car parks elsewhere or expanding the existing ones, so as to provide more public parking spaces. These were what the TD could do within its capacity. He hoped that the department would study the suggestions in a proactive manner, and provide Members with previous research findings about the provision of more parking spaces in Tai Po District, including the locations it had considered for providing more parking spaces, and the reasons why certain locations could not be used for providing parking spaces.
186. Mr. WU Yiu-cheong said that the department should draw up short-term, medium-term and long-term measures for the provision of more parking spaces in the district. At the TTC meetings of the previous term DC, Members had discussed whether an underground car park should be constructed at the park in Area 6 in Tai Po. Just as what the departmental representative had mentioned not long ago, the area concerned used to be an idle land but had later been turned into a - 64 - temporary car park. However, the land had been resumed by the Government for developing other recreational facilities. There was less and less idle land in Hong Kong. In Tseung Kwan O, for instance, there was only a handful of idle land, and parking spaces were also in short supply, just like Tai Po. In the past, some car parks in Tai Po Market had also been resumed by the Government for other purposes. When Members advised on the policy of “single site, multiple use” in the past, the Government had either wasted a lot of time studying the proposals, or rejected or delayed them in the belief that the proposals would incur considerable expenditure. After the Government had resumed the park in Area 6 in Tai Po for other development purposes, the number of parking spaces in the area concerned had gone down by 200 to 300. In addition, as the HKPF had recently turned a blind eye to illegal parking by the public, there was a large number of illegally parked vehicles every night along the entire Tat Wan Road and Ma Wo Road. He opined that providing public parking spaces at GIC facilities (such as Area 33 in Tai Po) alone could not cover the shortage of parking spaces at present. As the department could do nothing when the Government resumed idle land for other development purposes, and more and more people were buying private vehicles as a means of transport, parking spaces were in short supply. Apart from the seven sites in Tai Po District being used as temporary short-term tenancy car parks at present, he asked whether the department would consider continuing to identify other sites in Tai Po District suitable for temporary car parks. For example, at least two sites under the flyover of Tolo Highway near Lai Chi Shan could be used for such a purpose, thereby coping with the shortage of parking spaces immediately. He said that there were no more construction materials on one of the idle sites near Tat Wan Road Park. In this connection, he asked how long it would take to deal with the issues concerned if the department would use the site as a temporary car park.
187. Mr. Richard CHAN asked the department whether any of the parking spaces which were said to be provided in Tai Po District were located in Lam Tsuen. He said that the passing bays and wider roads in the village were full of illegally parked vehicles. Even the space between two trees on both sides of pedestrian way along Lam Kam Road was big enough to accommodate a vehicle, and the same situation could be found on Tai Wo Service Road West as well. In addition, many vehicles were parked illegally in front of the paifang in Nam Wa Po for a long period of time. As there was no public car park in Nam Wa Po, he asked whether the department would identify a suitable location to build one. In addition, he also asked the departments concerned to deal with the parking spaces at the public car park in Ping Long Village. These parking spaces had long been occupied by tires, which made it impossible for vehicles to be parked there even if there were parking spaces at the car park. During an inspection in the village, he had found that even the vehicles of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (“FEHD”) had to be parked next to the parking spaces. In addition, there was also a shortage of parking spaces at Tai Wo Service Road West and Wai Tau Tsuen. In this connection, he asked whether the department would consider drawing on Taiwan’s experience by maximising the use of idle land under flyovers. For example, car parks could be built under the flyover opposite Wai Tau Tsuen near Lam Kam Road Roundabout. Although some residents had told him that they would like the Government to provide elderly facilities there, he opined that the area was not suitable for elderly facilities as it was close to the - 65 - expressway, where the dust might lead to poorer air quality.
188. Mr. YAM Kai-bong’s comments were as follows:
(i) One or two years ago, he had mentioned that the department should explore ways to provide more on-street metered parking spaces. At present, there were on-street metered parking spaces on the level ground on Shan Tong Road, providing a dozen or so private vehicle parking spaces.
(ii) One or two years ago, Members had also suggested on multiple occasions that the department could draw on Taiwan’s experience by providing car parks under flyovers. Although something similar had been done in Hong Kong, it had failed to maximise the use of land resources. He indicated that if a flyover was high enough, a two-storey car park could be built underneath it. He suggested the department refer to the practices adopted in Taiwan and Japan. For example, the car park under the high-level bridge next to Da’an Forest Park in Taiwan was originally single storey with 30 parking spaces. Subsequently, metal framework had been built to set up an additional storey, and the number of parking spaces had been doubled to 50 to 60. In Japan, sturdy metal framework had been built in many small car parks so as to set up hourly car parks without having to launch large-scale projects.
(iii) He asked the department to learn from or introduce overseas technologies for building underground car parks, so that the department could make good use of idle land. For example, regarding the idle sites at Tat Wan Road and under the flyover near Tolo Highway mentioned by Mr. WU Yiu-cheong, one of them was currently vacant, while the other only used for storing materials. The department could clear the materials, and set up metal framework to build a two-storey car park similar to the one mentioned earlier. The parking spaces on the lower level could be used by medium and heavy vehicles, and the upper level by lighter ones.
(iv) He hoped that the department could make good use of the areas under flyovers, such as the area off Wai Tau Tsuen mentioned by Mr. Richard CHAN. The department could first refer to the simpler methods adopted in various places, namely providing parking spaces by building metal framework. Meanwhile, it should learn more from foreign countries about their initiatives to provide parking spaces.
(v) In the past, there used to be large sites in Tai Po District that could be turned into temporary car parks. However, many sites originally intended for parking spaces had been resumed by the Government for different projects, including the construction of Area 33 in Tai Po, the heated swimming pool in Area 1 in Tai Po, the park in Area 6 in Tai Po and the community facilities near Classical Gardens. As such, there were fewer and fewer sites in Tai Po District that could be used as car parks. The department had to take a serious approach to resolve the problem and - 66 -
keep the works progress under close scrutiny. For example, when the Government carried out the park project in Area 6 in Tai Po, he suggested turning the proposed single-storey car turned into a three-storey one so as to provide more parking spaces. He indicated that it was difficult for the department to identify sites in Tai Po for on- street parking spaces. Even if the public wanted to park illegally, it was difficult to find a location that would not obstruct other road users.
(vi) The department had not made good use of the site under the flyover near Science Park. If there was not any long-term development plan for the site concerned, the TD and the Lands D could consider using it as a temporary car park.
189. Mr. YIU Kwan-ho said that after the Government had resumed the site in Area 1 in Tai Po for other developments, there were not enough parking spaces for large vehicles. Motorists had no choice but to park their vehicles in the vicinity of Kwong Fuk Estate or even on both sides of zebra crossings, hence blocking the residents’ way. Some motorists had told him that there was nowhere else for parking large vehicles. Without any alternatives, they could only park their vehicles in the above-mentioned locations. In this connection, he asked whether the department would reserve a certain number of parking spaces for large vehicles when identifying suitable sites for car parks. In addition, he had asked the Lands D whether the medium-sized area under the flyover next to Pak Shek Kok temporary car park would be leased to the current contractor of Pak Shek Kok temporary car park for use as a temporary car park as well. However, the Lands D stated that there had not been such a condition for the tender of the car park back then. If the site was also leased to the contractor at present, there might be a conflict of interest. Therefore, the department would not implement his suggestions until the renewal of the contract at the earliest. However, the site would have been wasted before then. As such, he suggested that the TD advise the Lands D to lease the site as a temporary car park by other means, and said that the site could be used for constructing a two-storey car park.
190. Mr. AU Chun-wah considered it appropriate to maximise the use of land by turning it into parking spaces. However, as his suggestion involved works on a larger scale, it could be regarded as a long-term plan. He suggested reconstructing Tai Po Government Offices as the building was rather dilapidated and could not provide enough space for the staff of all the departments. In addition, the car park there took up a large area but consisted of only one storey. As such, he suggested reconstructing Tai Po Government Offices to maximise the use of the land by building an underground car park. He found this suggestion reasonable as the complete reconstruction could increase the area of the building and provide more room for the staff. He also suggested the department concerned explore whether the Secretariat could be relocated there after reconstruction, as some Members opined that there was not enough space in the Secretariat. Moreover, he also opined that as the manpower at the Secretariat would increase over time, the Secretariat was getting less and less spacious indeed. Given that the site was government land, his suggestion was feasible. Therefore, he would like the Assistant District Office (Tai Po) and the TD’s staff to consider it. In - 67 - addition, as regards short-term measures, he suggested the department consider designating parking spaces on some road sections in Tai Po in the evening for the parking of buses or large vehicles on condition that the public was not obstructed in general. He had earlier conducted a consultation on the provision of similar parking spaces next to Plover Cove Road. He also agreed with this proposal because the road was not used frequently in the evening, and there was indeed a lack of open-air car parks for large vehicles or school buses in Tai Po District. Therefore, it was very difficult for motorists to find a place for parking, and they were often prosecuted for illegal parking. However, they did not commit illegal parking on purpose. It was just that there was nowhere for parking in the district. Even if on-street metered parking spaces were available, they had a time limit that made them inconvenient to use. He understood that the suggestion might affect the nearby residents. However, he believed that as long as the department could conduct a comprehensive consultation and find locations that would not obstruct other road users, Members would be cooperative in supporting the short-term measures for the provision of more parking spaces wherever possible.
191. Mr. HO Wai-lam asked the department whether the additional parking spaces to be provided in the district would be located on Chung Nga Road as well, given the severity of illegal parking problem there. The residents had to cross the road by walking between vehicles. Even buses did not have enough room to get through, and therefore had to run in the opposite direction of the traffic. The population in Area 9 in Tai Po would increase at a rapid rate, but the area would only provide slightly more than 200 parking spaces, which was totally insufficient to cope with the population growth in the future, and the illegal parking problem would only become worse. He had inspected Shui Chuen O Estate, where nearly 500 parking spaces were provided. However, they were far from enough. After 8 p.m., the road from the hillside to the hilltop was full of illegally parked vehicles. He asked whether the department planned to build a car park in Phase 3 works in Area 9 in Tai Po or identify suitable locations near the area to build a car park, so as to deal with the shortage of parking spaces there.
192. Mr. LAM Yick-kuen said that the shortage of parking spaces in Tai Po District was so serious that it was difficult to find even illegal parking spaces in the district. He opined that the HKPF should consider which illegally parked vehicles had to be prosecuted first. For example, the HKPF could first prosecute vehicles that were parked illegally at more dangerous locations, namely those on the roadside marked with single yellow lines and double yellow lines. The illegally parked vehicles on the roadside that was not marked with any solid lines could be prosecuted later as they had smaller impact on road users. Given the large number of vehicles parked on the roadside, he wondered why the department did not designate the area concerned as on-street parking spaces. In addition, it was rather old-fashioned for the HKPF to deploy officers to take prosecution actions. In Shanghai, for instance, if there were illegally parked vehicles on the roadside marked with single yellow lines and double yellow lines, there was no need to deploy any officers to the scene because the city used cameras to take photographs of the illegally parked vehicles, and the drivers of which would be prosecuted afterwards. In this connection, he asked whether the department concerned - 68 - would take this practice as a reference and explore the possibility of installing such equipment on dangerous or busy roads in Hong Kong in the future, so as to prosecute motorists involved in illegal parking. He had worked with the District Officer (Tai Po) to study whether it was possible to reconstruct Tai Po Community Centre and then relocate the TPDO to Tai Po Community Centre after reconstruction. An underground car park could also be built there to connect with the car park of the market so as to increase the use of the car park. Meanwhile, a minibus terminus could also be set up, whereas the Tai Po Government Offices and the car park behind it could be converted to other purposes. In addition, with many people switching to electric vehicles at present, there might not be a huge demand for gas stations in the future. In the UK, for example, gasoline vehicles would be banned from the roads in 2032. By then, the departments concerned might convert the nearby gas stations into houses to make good use of the land. He suggested the government departments consider formulating long-term plans for the reconstruction of Tai Po Community Centre and reconstructing the gas station and the fire station altogether, with a view to developing a new community in line with the “single site, multiple use” principle.
193. Mr. Richard CHAN asked whether the HKPF had taken any law enforcement actions against those who put tires at the public parking spaces in Ping Long Village. In addition, while there were on-street metered parking spaces on Shan Tong Road, he was not sure whether the area under the opposite flyover was on a month-to-month lease to a construction company for use as an office. As such, he asked the department concerned whether the area could be resumed for use as a car park. Similarly, next to the on-street metered parking spaces on Shan Tong Road, the plot of land originally planned as the new site of Tai Po Baptist Church had been vacant all along. He wondered if the department would consider using the land as a car park to deal with the shortage of parking spaces after the completion of The Regent. Otherwise, the traffic condition on Shan Tong Road would be disastrous. The department should also consider identifying a location in the middle section of the road near the Paramount for use as a public car park. Otherwise, there would be a very serious problem of illegal parking on Shan Tong Road.
194. Mr. TAM Yi-pui agreed that the illegal parking problem could be resolved by providing more parking spaces. However, this method failed to target the root cause of the problem. He opined that the reason for such a huge demand for parking spaces at present and the need to provide parking spaces even in the green belts in rural areas was that Hong Kong people loved to buy cars. Some even owned more than one, which was commonplace in the rural areas. Therefore, he opined that Members and the department should consider long-term development to improve public transport services. He had worked with green groups to examine the possibility of conducting educational activities, such as organising a car-free day every other day to encourage the public to commute by any means other than private vehicles. By doing so, the public would realise that there were other means of public transport available. In addition, he said that Sai Kung North residents often complained about the shortage of parking spaces. In an unmetered public parking space near Shui Long Wo, a blue abandoned car without a license plate had been parked there since he was elected as DC Member. As such, he asked the department concerned to deal with it as soon as possible. - 69 -
195. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, asked whether the department would consider adjusting parking fees if it could not find any suitable location for additional parking spaces. According to his observations, the private vehicle parking spaces at Tai Po Industrial Estate and the private vehicle metered parking spaces off Yau King Lane in Tai Po had rather low usage rates. By contrast, the usage rates of the on-street parking spaces in the vicinity of Tai Po Complex, Lane Square in Tai Po, San Wai Tsai and Ting Lai Road were so high that it was difficult to find a parking space at noon. He opined that the reason for vehicles to be parked illegally on the roadside rather than in parking spaces was that the fees for parking spaces were high. He indicated that the parking fee at Green Leaves Garden in Sheung Shui used to be only $2 every 30 minutes. However, to his knowledge, the hourly parking fee at the car parks in Tai Po was $2 every 15 minutes. In this connection, he asked whether the department would consider adjusting the fees. In addition, he said that the left side of Chung Nga Road was Chung Nga Court, and the right side was a slope with trees on it. To build a car park, it was necessary to fell the trees, which made the works more difficult. However, he hoped that the department concerned would at least reply that it had studied the suggestion, but due to the difficulty in felling the trees, it could not build a car park on the slope. He opined that if the department could conduct a research and provide Members with information for reference, it would help Members understand the situation, rather than just pointing out that it could not find any suitable location. He said that the department had mentioned at the TTC meeting in 2019 that it would report to Members if it had found suitable locations for additional parking spaces. After half a year, Members still had no idea about the department’s progress, such as which locations had been examined, or why certain locations were not suitable. He opined that it would be more practical if the department could provide supplementary information later. He understood that it was difficult to provide additional parking spaces near the town centre of Tai Po District. However, he also noticed that the number of parking spaces in the rural areas of Tai Po had not increased but even decreased. For example, at the free car park near Bride’s Pool bus stop of route 275R, private vehicles could be parked on the left in the past. However, after the bus route had been extended to Wu Kau Tang, the area was converted to a bus stop. As a result, a total of six parking spaces had been removed, making it impossible for people from the rural area to park their vehicles there. He often conducted inspections, and found that there had not been any additional parking spaces in Tai Po during the past six to nine months. Nonetheless, the department failed to provide any research and investigation details.
196. Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang put forward his views as follows: (1) He hoped that the department would provide on-street metered parking spaces on Fung Yuen Road; (2) Vehicles had been parked in a disorderly manner at the large vehicle on-street metered parking spaces behind Ting Lai Road for a prolonged period of time; (3) He asked the HKPF to step up prosecution actions against the illegally parked vehicles behind the swimming pool on San Wai Tsai Road in the evening, as the vehicles were often parked there side-by-side; (4) He suggested the department consider relocating the taxi stand on San Wai Tsai Road as it was not used by anyone; and (5) Making good use of the parking spaces designated in various parts of Tai Po, such as Tai Po Industrial Estate. - 70 -
197. Mr. LAU Yung-wai said that the TD should seriously consider providing additional parking spaces. Although it was difficult to find suitable locations at the road sections in Tai Po town centre, he asked whether the department had considered building car parks by reconstructing the older existing buildings, such as Tai Po Government Offices and Tai Po Jockey Club General Out- patient Clinic (“Jockey Club Clinic”) that were built in the 1970s. As a new clinic would be built in Tai Po, providing services that were originally offered by Jockey Club Clinic, he asked whether the department would consider seizing this opportunity to explore ways to reconstruct Jockey Club Clinic. For example, an underground car park could be built to provide additional parking spaces at the road sections in the town centre of the district. He indicated that in his constituency, including Kau Hui Chik Street and Mei Sun Lane next to the afore-mentioned clinic, illegal parking could be seen everywhere, and motorists completely ignored whether there were double yellow lines on the roadside. The situation was very serious. In addition, he knew that a department would build a stormwater pumping station at the basketball court of Old Market Playground and use it as an underground flood storage pond. As such, he asked whether the department would consider building a multi-storey car park on the reconstructed basketball court after the basketball court there had been removed. He opined that the department should broaden its horizons and exercise flexibility by studying, co-operating and communicating with the departments concerned with respect to the development projects in the district. It should consider from different perspectives how to provide the public with additional parking spaces at the road sections in the town centre of the district.
198. Mr. Dalu LIN asked the department concerned whether it had set any goal of transport development in Tai Po District. He opined that the department had always regarded the provision of additional parking spaces as the stopgap measure for dealing with the shortage of parking spaces. However, the department could also consider encouraging the public to drive less or raising the vehicle license fees to resolve the problem. In this connection, he asked whether the department concerned had set any long-term goals to deal with the shortage of parking spaces in the district, thereby truly achieving sustainable development. In addition to the enormous impact of vehicle exhaust gas on the environment, too many vehicles would also give rise to a wide array of problems. He indicated that the traffic on Tolo Highway used to be smooth in general in the past. However, with the rapid increase in the number of vehicles, the traffic burden on the road would eventually be saturated. Meanwhile, the average road area occupied by each passenger on a private vehicle was so large that an extremely large amount of space had been wasted. As such, the Government had to taking on a leading role to resolve the problem. In addition, he suggested the department concerned consider turning Tai Po into a “bicycle town” and encouraging the public to commute by bicycles more often. He opined that the conditions in Tai Po were more favourable than other parts of Hong Kong for implementing the suggestion. It was because Tai Po town centre was not very large, and its higher density and concentration allowed residents to reach their destinations in a short period of time. Regarding Mr. TAM Yi-pui’s proposal to organise car-free days, he suggested prohibiting vehicles from entering certain parts of Tai Po District on that day. He opined that the - 71 - above suggestion should help deal with the shortage of parking spaces. He indicated that apart from the illegal parking problem and shortage of parking spaces, Tai Po was also congested on Saturdays and Sundays. However, he did not mean that the department should not build car parks. Taking Tai Po Government Offices as an example, he said that the building, completed in 1979, had a long history, which in turn gave him the idea that the Government should consider preserving rather than reconstructing it. Of course, the final decision rested with the Government. Nonetheless, he would like to use this example to point out that the Government had to lead everyone with a forward-looking perspective.
199. Mr. MAN Nim-chi suggested the department study the feasibility of adding extra storeys to the FEHD Tai Po Depot or the car parks of the housing estates in Tai Po. He opined that the Government did not fully utilise the buildings constructed in the past. As mentioned by Mr. AU Chun-ho, the Government should draw up policies with a longer-term vision. He said that, for example, the multi-storey car park at Tai Yuen Estate had only four or five storeys. Perhaps because not all residents could afford a car when they moved into the estate in 1980, or because of the restriction by the plot ratio of the estate, the Government believed at that time that constructing a car park with several storeys would be sufficient for the residents. However, he suggested the department now consider adding extra storeys to Tai Yuen Estate Car Park so as to provide additional parking spaces. If the suggestion was feasible, the existing land could be put into good use by providing additional parking spaces.
200. Mr. Nick LAM asked whether the department had considered providing an underground car park or a multi-storey car park at Tai Po Youth Hostel before its completion. If the suggestion was feasible, why did the Government not consider it back then? In addition, he asked whether the department would consider the suggestion if similar buildings were to be constructed in the future.
201. The Chairman added that before the construction of Tai Po Youth Hostel, he had considered reconstructing Tai Po Community Centre, the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Tai Po Youth S.P.O.T. and Tai Po Rural Committee, and using the land to develop an integrated interchange. However, he agreed with Mr. LI Yiu-ban that they had missed the opportunity for overall planning. It was difficult to implement the suggestion unless the youth hostel was demolished. He also opined that while Mr. LAM Yick-kuen’s proposal to reconstruct Tai Po Community Centre might be feasible, the space there was limited.
202. Ms. Summer LEE responded as follows:
(i) At present, most parking spaces in Hong Kong were located: (1) on the roadside; (2) at government car parks in some districts, but there should be no such car parks in Tai Po District; and (3) government or private development projects. Most parking spaces were located in private development projects. When the Government planned to provide parking spaces in the past, it often relied on private development - 72 -
projects to do so.
(ii) In recent years, the Government had also admitted a shortage of parking spaces in Hong Kong. The causes included: (1) People found it easier to own vehicles nowadays, which led to a rapid increase in the number of vehicles over the past decade; and (2) The Government relied on development projects alone to provide parking spaces, but the provision of parking spaces there had to meet certain standards which, however, could not cope with the demand.
(iii) Short-term measures referred to measures that could be implemented in three to five years. Such measures, including the provision of parking spaces on the roadside, would continue to be implemented by the Government on an ongoing basis. As regards Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman’s enquiry about the actions taken by the department with regard to such measures, the department would provide supplementary information. In the past few months, the department had carried out consultation on the provision of evening parking spaces next to Plover Cove Road. In addition, it would also work with the Lands D to examine which sites in the district could be used as short-term tenancy car parks. She had also checked the number of additional parking spaces in Tai Po District in recent years. Although Members might not be happy with the rate of increase, the number of parking spaces had gone up indeed. She speculated that it was easier to provide motorcycle parking spaces under flyovers, and that was why the majority of the additional parking spaces were designated for motorcycles. However, she had to look up more information to confirm the locations.
(iv) Medium-term measures included providing public car parking spaces in suitable GIC facilities and public open space projects under the “single site, multiple use” principle. If there were private development projects, the department would require the developers to raise the maximum number of parking spaces, subject to the extent specified in the relevant standards and regulations.
(v) Regarding long-term measures, the department would review the relevant standards and regulations. For the past two years, other colleagues from the department had been taking follow-up actions. At present, the department also planned to implement the regulations within 2020. However, it did not mean that the department could provide additional parking spaces immediately as it might take ten years to complete the entire process, from the implementation of the standards, to the designation of parking spaces by the developers, and even the addition and implementation of the terms in the land sale contracts by the department.
(vi) As the previous short-term measures had failed to address the shortage of parking spaces, the department had planned to increase parking fees, about which it had consulted the Legislative Council in early 2018. It also planned to officially amend the legislation concerned in 2020. However, in light of the current economic - 73 -
situation, the Government had scrapped the plan.
(vii) The Transport and Housing Bureau had proposed a total of 12 short-term, medium- long-term and long-term measures, including increasing the first registration fee and license fee for private vehicles, so as to relieve traffic congestion and control the increase in the number of vehicles. However, these measures could only be implemented with the support of the majority of the people. Meanwhile, the colleagues in-charge would implement the measures in a gradual manner.
(viii) As regards some Member’s proposal to build a two-storey, smart-system-operated car park on the level ground to increase the number of parking spaces on the same plot of land, the department opined that it could be carried out more quickly. To this end, the department hired a consultancy in early 2018 to study which smart parking systems around the world would be applicable to Hong Kong. It had also asked the consultancy to launch pilot projects at six locations in Hong Kong, so as to identify a smart parking system suitable for Hong Kong and make operational, managerial and financial arrangements for the system. The consultancy had to carry out individual research for each location to determine whether the location was suitable for using smart parking systems. After the pilot projects at the six locations had been completed, the consultancy would also study the possibility of extending the projects to other districts. If it was possible, the projects would be one of the short-term measures that could be implemented sooner.
203. Mr. WU Yiu-cheong said that regarding how to effectively reduce the use of vehicles among the public, the TD carried out a travel characteristics survey in 2011, which stated that most of the respondents purchased private vehicles because the use of which was convenient and time-saving. He was not sure whether there were any updates on the data. However, he opined that if the department would like to reduce the use of private vehicles more effectively, it should not only increase the fees or taxes concerned, but reflect on why most respondents found using private vehicles more convenient and time-saving than using public transport. It was also related to the suggestions put forward by Members during the discussion on the bus route planning programme of Tai Po District. He believed that improving bus services was more effective than increasing parking fees, illegal parking fines and vehicle first registration tax. In addition, he opined that the provision of other facilities such as bicycles, which was mentioned not long ago, also deserved consideration. Regarding the department’s survey, he opined that it was worth conducting another one, and the department should also make good use of the findings obtained from the survey.
204. The Chairman hoped that the department would carefully consider Members’ views and proactively follow up on their suggestion to convert some places to temporary car parks. He understood that due to the high rents and property prices in the urban areas at present, more and more people were moving to the rural areas. In the face of inadequate public transport, they could only opt for private vehicles. He said that in a television programme in 2019, people were asked - 74 - why they moved to the remote area and drove private vehicles. The reasons they had mentioned were the same as what he had just said. Although he did not have any private vehicle, and he supported the public in using public transport more frequently, some people had no choice but to drive private vehicles. As such, he hoped that the department could also improve the situation and reduce the public’s demand for parking spaces.
205. Mr. LAM Yick-kuen opined that the cycling tracks in Tai Po District were well developed and very suitable for residents to commute by bicycles. He himself also loved cycling. He asked the department about the relaxation of the use of electric bicycles in Hong Kong. He indicated that electric bicycles were very popular in other countries as they were more convenient and could travel to places further away. However, Hong Kong was the only place in the world that had not legalised them. If they could be legalised, the public might be encouraged to commute by bicycles instead, thereby reducing the burden on road traffic.
206. The Chairman agreed that electric bicycles were more convenient for travelling to places further away, for example from Lam Tsuen to Tai Po Market Station, and the public would also be encouraged to use bicycles as an alternative means of transport. He asked whether electric bicycles had yet to be legalised in Hong Kong.
207. Ms. Summer LEE said that some colleagues were dedicated to studying the issue concerned, and she had to find out more about the progress.
208. Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang asked whether it was feasible to arrange for vehicles with odd-numbered licence plates to enter Tai Po Market on Saturdays, and those with even-numbered licence plates on Sundays.
209. Mr. HO Wai-lam opined that given the rapid population growth, the department could not keep using the outdated methods by merely relying on developers to provide parking spaces in private projects. Instead, it should proactively explore other places to provide additional parking spaces.
210. Ms. Summer LEE said that Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang’s proposal required extensive consultation and support from all community members before implementation, just like the Electronic Road Pricing Pilot Scheme in Central.
(2) Request for the addition of a covered taxi stand next to the petrol filling station on Kwong Chun Street
211. Ms. Summer LEE reported that she had earlier discussed with the Lands D to clarify the land rights issues concerned, and asked the HyD representatives to report on the construction arrangements. - 75 -
212. Mr. SIU Wai-kwan reported that the improvement plan concerned required some modifications to the LCSD’s structures. As such, the representatives of the HyD and the LCSD would visit the site and discuss the works’ details before coming up with a detailed design and drawing up a works schedule. The department would report on the progress at future meetings.
213. The Chairman asked whether the HyD could report on the issue at the TTC meeting in mid- May.
214. Mr. SIU Wai-kwan said that the department would take follow-up actions as soon as possible.
(3) Concerns over illegal parking in Tai Po District
215. Mr. SIU Wai-kwan reported that the preliminary preparatory work for the traffic improvement works on Po Heung Street had been completed. The works were scheduled to begin in early May and expected to be completed by the end of June.
216. Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk reported that Tai Po Police District had issued 86 357, 5 599, 8 821 and 9 677 fixed penalty notices in the year of 2019, January 2020, February 2020 and March 2020 respectively. The fixed penalty notices issued in March had increased by about 9.7% compared with February, and those in February had also increased by 57.5% compared with January. He believed that the number of fixed penalty notices issued by the HKPF in April would also increase. Tai Po Police District would continue to enforce traffic laws in accordance with the selected traffic enforcement priorities and take appropriate law enforcement actions against offenders, so as to ensure smooth road traffic and the safety of road users.
217. The Chairman asked Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang to outline the discussion paper for this agenda item.
218. Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang outlined TPDC Paper No. TT 22/2020.
219. Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk responded as follows:
(i) When dealing with traffic issues, the HKPF’s main objectives were to reduce the casualties caused by traffic accidents and to ensure smooth traffic. Meanwhile, law enforcement actions were carried out according to the geographical environment, traffic conditions and operation needs of each district. Priority would be given to places with heavy traffic congestion and illegal parking blackspots.
(ii) The locations where the HKPF cracked down on illegal parking also included the 40- plus locations mentioned by Members in the past. As regards Members’ reports to - 76 -
the HKPF about the illegally parked vehicles and traffic congestion on the roads in their constituencies, Tai Po Police District was also highly concerned about them. The traffic and enforcement team had been re-organised to make it easier to contact colleagues in Tai Po District, who would visit the heavily congested roads and illegal parking blackspots at specific time periods to crack down on illegal parking and take law enforcement actions continuously. However, as there were numerous illegal parking blackspots in the district, especially in the evening when illegal parking occurred everywhere, the first the colleagues concerned would do was to take law enforcement actions in places with heavy traffic congestion, including bus stops, public minibus stops, parking places at public minibus stops, taxi stands, entrances of housing estates, roadsides marked with double yellow lines, areas near zebra crossings or pedestrian crossings, evening parking places for goods vehicles, and areas with traffic signs. They would patrol and enforce the law at these locations from time to time. As there were illegally parked vehicles on many roads in the evening, as well as a shortage of parking spaces, the colleagues on the spot would use their professional judgement to determine whether outsourced towing companies were required to remove the illegally parked vehicles.
(iii) He found it necessary to raise the law-abiding awareness among motorists who committed illegal parking, and hoped that they would park their vehicles at car parks so as to reduce illegal parking.
(iv) He opined that the deterrent effects of fixed penalty tickets varied among individuals. As most parking spaces were not cheap, ranging from $3,000 to $6,000 per month, some motorists who committed illegal parking believed that the fines incurred by fixed penalty tickets were still less than what the monthly rental of a parking space would cost.
(v) He opined that the shortage of parking spaces was also one of the reasons for illegal parking. For instance, some goods vehicle drivers had difficulties finding parking spaces. As such, crack-downs by the HKPF alone could not resolve the illegal parking problem. However, the HKPF could invite the departments concerned and Members to carry out on-site inspection to see if it was necessary to put up additional traffic signs or carry out improvement works on certain roads, so as to resolve the illegal parking problem in the district.
220. Mr. YAM Kai-bong’s comments were as follows:
(i) There were many illegally parked vehicles, including “dead vehicles” and goods vehicles, on On Po Lane in Tai Po roughly between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. every day. However, the HKPF did not often ask the drivers to drive the vehicles away or prosecute them. He understood that the HKPF had difficulties cracking down on illegal parking. However, he opined that as On Po Lane was a road that police - 77 -
officers had to use when they entered or left Tai Po Police Station, he did not understand why the HKPF did not take any corresponding actions against the illegally parked vehicles. If there were illegally parked vehicles along On Po Lane in Tai Po and they had prevented police officers from leaving the police station, the HKPF’s law enforcement actions would be affected as well. Therefore, he hoped that the HKPF would take action.
(ii) He opined that the HKPF had to take law enforcement actions in a high-profile manner. He had seen four to five vehicles from a towing company towing away several illegally parked vehicles on Yiu Wa Street and Sharp Street East in Causeway Bay. He indicated that the places in Tai Po Market with street obstruction problems caused by vehicles included the area off Tai Po Baptist Church, the turnaround area at Po Heung Estate and Treasure Garden. He said that no vehicles would be parked on the road section marked with double-yellow lines between Treasure Garden and Jade Plaza in the past. At present, however, it was full of parked vehicles. It was extremely dangerous as vehicles leaving Po Heung Bridge would head towards Fortune Plaza before reaching the crossroad there, where they could go straight ahead on two of the lanes. On one occasion, he almost witnessed a traffic accident there. For the two lanes for going straight ahead, one of them was the slow lane bound for Tai Yuen Estate, but many vehicles were parked along it. When a private vehicle driver saw the parked vehicles and wanted to switch to the fast lane, an accident almost took place as neither he nor a taxi driver was willing to give way. Although he did not want to increase the manpower of the HKPF, he found it necessary to recruit more traffic wardens to step up law the enforcement efforts.
(iii) The e-ticketing scheme had been implemented in parts of Hong Kong. Meanwhile, electronic penalty tickets had been in use for a long time in the UK and Canada, and even on the Mainland. During law enforcement actions, traffic wardens simply had to scan the QR code on the vehicle license and take photographs on the spot to record the illegal parking situation at that moment, so that the motorists committing illegal parking would have no way to deny having done so. He asked when the e-ticket scheme would be launched in Tai Po District.
221. Mr. WU Yiu-cheong said that Members had discussed the illegal parking problem at the TPDC special meeting held in January 2020. Although the District Commander (Tai Po) was absent from the meeting, they had also asked the HKPF to respond in writing as regards the illegal parking situation in the past year and the number of fixed penalty tickets issued. The HKPF’s response showed that the number of prosecutions had fallen sharply since June 2019. Only 1 207 fixed penalty tickets had been issued for illegal parking in August 2019, and only 1 215 in September. The number in October was the lowest at only 987, accounting for merely one-tenth of that in March 2020. He opined that the HKPF representatives were simply passing the buck when they said that there were many reasons for illegal parking on the streets, such as insufficient deterrence of fixed - 78 - penalty tickets and shortage of parking spaces. He opined that the HKPF had not been serious about cracking down on illegal parking in the six months since June 2019, resulting in such a serious illegal parking problem that was affecting the public at present. He believed that there had always been a shortage of parking spaces in the district. As such, it was not the reason for the surge in the number of illegally parked vehicles. As regards the view of the HKPF representatives that the amount of the fixed penalty was too small, he suggested the HKPF deploy officers to deal with the illegally parked vehicles every day in a way similar to how it enforced the no-gathering order. By doing so, it could definitely increase the deterrence of fixed penalty tickets on motorists committing illegal parking. He hoped that the HKPF would not pass the buck using other reasons. He found it reasonable that the current number of prosecutions had gone back to around 8 000 to 9 000. It was not because the HKPF was particularly hard-working, but because the illegal parking problem was indeed more serious than it used to be. He said that as police officers received overtime pay and salary increases every year, they ought to deal with illegal parking seriously. They should not consider themselves very hard-working when they saw a higher number of prosecutions. He opined that if the HKPF did not put in a normal amount of effort to crack down on illegal parking for half a year or even more than nine months, it would not be able to alleviate the illegal parking problem at present.
222. Mr. SO Tat-leung opined that the number of illegal parking cases reported by the HKPF could reflect the situation he had noticed since he had taken office. He said that illegal parking was the most serious after Chinese New Year in January, and opined that the recent law enforcement actions taken by the HKPF were effective in cracking down on illegal parking. He indicated that the major illegal parking blackspots in his constituency were the pedestrian way beside the entire cycling track along Ting Kok Road. In addition, regarding the illegal parking situation outside his office, after a two-week law enforcement operation carried out by the HKPF, there was not even a single illegally parked vehicle at present. It showed that the HKPF’s prosecution against the illegally parked vehicles was very effective in tackling illegal parking. In his constituency, the monthly rent for a parking space was about $1,000 to $1,200. For motorists committing illegal parking, the fixed penalty was relatively more expensive. He opined that illegal parking affected not only the environment in the district, but also the safety of pedestrians. If there were illegally parked vehicles on the pedestrian way, pedestrians would have to walk onto the cycling track. As the epidemic was serious recently, cycling tracks were also very busy. He indicated that there was a construction site at the end of Lo Fai Road near Tycoon Place. He and his office staff visited there two days ago. They found that in addition to engineering vehicles entering and leaving the construction site, engineers and other personnel responsible for the works also parked their vehicles on the pedestrian way, forcing the residents and students to walk onto the carriageway. Meanwhile, many engineering vehicles travelled along the roundabout as well. When the HKPF took prosecution actions more frequently in February and March, illegal parking had disappeared for a while. However, with fewer prosecution actions taken by the HKPF recently, illegal parking problem had re-emerged on an ongoing basis. As such, he hoped that the HKPF would deploy more manpower. If there were not enough police officers, traffic wardens could also be deployed to take law - 79 - enforcement actions on an ongoing basis so as to enhance the deterrence.
223. Mr. AU Chun-wah’s comments were as follows:
(i) Illegally parked private vehicles of course took up a lot of road space. However, some large goods vehicles and buses were also parked at bus stops and cycling tracks at some road sections. He had seen it at the bus stop opposite Eightland Gardens, and some vehicles had been parked on the cycling track as well. He had taken pictures of the situation and sent them to the District Commander (Tai Po). It was very dangerous as the vehicles parked on cycling tracks would affect the pedestrians there. If someone happened to be using the cycling track while a vehicle was going onto the cycling track, it would knock him down the if it had lost control. Nonetheless, some vehicles were still parked at the aforesaid locations at the same time every night. He did not know whether it was because the pictures he had taken were not clear enough, because the District Commander (Tai Po) did not give clear instructions to the police officers, or the police officers had turned a blind eye to the above situation during patrols. He said that if the police officers on duty were not responsible for cracking down on illegal parking, they would ignore such situations even if they had run into them. Only the police officers who had received the relevant instructions would make their way to the scene to inspect the situation. He opined that many police officers walked past the above locations every night. However, he was so surprised that none of them had noticed the situation, which in fact had existed all along.
(ii) He had complained on many occasions about the urban taxis parked at the bus stop or traffic lights on Kwong Fuk Road in the evening, occupying half of the pedestrian way. This situation existed before the social movements. However, police officers, whether they were patrolling, staying in police vehicles or buying takeaways from eateries, all turned a blind eye to the situation. He asked who was responsible for dealing with his complaint. In the evening, as relatively few traffic police officers would inspect the above locations, law enforcement actions were taken by the patrolling police officers only. He suggested the Secretariat invite the operations officer of Tai Po Police District to attend the meeting, as it was somewhat useless to relay the details of the situation to Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk alone. Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk was under the Traffic Wing but the patrolling police officers were not. Therefore, Mr. TSUI could not relay the views at the meeting to them. However, if the problems could not be resolved, the operations officer, who was present at the meeting, would be held responsible.
(iii) He indicated that illegal parking blackspots included On Pong Road, On Tai Road, On Chee Road, On Cheung Road, the vicinity of Tai Po Centre, the road section off Li Fook Lam Indoor Sports Centre, and the bus stop and taxi stand at Jade Plaza. - 80 -
Whether in the morning, at noon or in the evening, vehicles were often parked side by side at the bus stop and taxi stand at Jade Plaza, leaving only one lane available out of the two originally there. In addition, as the rear of the illegally parked vehicles and taxis were often over the lane boundary, many drivers had to cross the double white lines to overtake them, which was against the traffic rules. He had already reported the situation before the social movements in 2019. However, there had not been any improvement so far, and the problem had deteriorated to the extent that even the area near the traffic lights at Treasure Garden was full of illegally parked vehicles. As regards the illegal parking opposite the Bank of China at Jade Plaza, when private vehicles were parked there illegally, buses could not make the turn as usual. The passing bays on both sides of Jade Plaza, and the area off Hang Seng Bank and T Tea House were also full of taxis. Although the taxis drivers who parked their vehicles there were waiting for passengers, he did not understand why the HKPF did not ask them to go away. He had always suggested that the HKPF needed not ask them to go away but prosecuted them immediately, as it was not a given that taxi drivers could park their vehicles there waiting for passengers, and they had to pay attention to the surrounding traffic. Therefore, if the HKPF saw a taxi illegally parked at the roadside, especially at Kwong Fuk Estate bus stop, it had to initiate prosecution immediately instead of just asking them to go away. He understood that given the large number of vehicles parked at the same place, the HKPF might believe that spending half an hour to 45 minutes prosecuting all of them would have a greater impact on traffic. However, he opined that it was inevitable during the crackdown on illegal parking. If the HKPF did not take prosecute actions, drivers would definitely continue to park their vehicles illegally at the same locations. He had on many occasions talked about the volume of vehicle horns at the inner streets of On Tai Road and On Pong Road. Even a police officer living nearby had complained to him about the noisy vehicle horns. However, he could only reply that the HKPF rarely deployed officers to take law enforcement actions there, which had rendered the complainant speechless. Mr. TSUI had just said that the traffic and enforcement team of Tai Po Police District had been re-organised. He asked whether the telephone hotline of the special team was still the same, or there were different arrangements after re-organisation. He would like Mr. TSUI to provide more details.
(iv) Before the social movements, the area off Chiu Wo Hing, located between the T- junction and Y-junction at the intersection of Kwong Fuk Road and Wan Tau Street, were very congested. If he drove to Tai Po Complex, he would not go through the road section next to Wong Shiu Chi Secondary School as it was very congested. He would rather take a detour to Wan Tau Tong on the way to Tai Po Complex. The situation on Heung Sze Wui Street was the same as that on Wan Tau Street. The department concerned had stated that it could not designate the entire Heung Sze Wui - 81 -
Street as a restricted area, or else goods vehicle drivers would not be able to load and unload goods there. However, goods vehicles were not the only ones parked on Heung Sze Wui Street for loading and unloading at present. Many private vehicles were also parked there, thus preventing goods vehicle drivers from loading and unloading as well. As a result, the HKPF was the last hope in the crackdown on illegal parking. However, the HKPF said that it did not have enough manpower.
(v) As the taxis parked outside Watsons on Po Heung Street had taken up half of the carriageway, there was only one lane available for the vehicles travelling from Po Heung Bridge to Po Heung Street. As a result, it had led to a long queue of vehicles blocking the intersection of Kwong Fuk Road, and congestion all the way back to Tai Wo Road and even Tai Yuen Estate.
(vi) He believed that Mr. TSUI definitely knew the illegal parking situations at the afore- mentioned locations. However, he would like the HKPF representatives to explain why the problems had not been resolved yet.
224. Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang hoped that the HKPF would take law enforcement actions in the evening on Fung Yuen Road and the gas station-bound passing bay at Tai Wo Estate. In addition, he suggested the HKPF deploy officers to be stationed at the turnaround area at Po Heung Estate to take law enforcement actions, as the illegal parking situation there was so serious that people had to walk from the pedestrian way to the middle lane and fast lane to get on vehicles. He also hoped that the HKPF would ask towing companies to tow away the vehicles concerned, including those parked on Fung Yuen Road and obstructing the buses from turning around on weekday morning, and those parked in Tai Mei Tuk and Sai Kung North and obstructing the buses and minibuses during the holidays from 30 April to 3 May. He asked whether the department concerned would consider converting the taxi stand at Po Heung Street turnaround area to a minibus stop because no taxis were parked at the taxi stand, and whether it would consider designating only one lane at Po Heung Street turnaround area so that vehicles could not be parked illegally on the carriageway and obstruct other vehicles. In addition, it was currently difficult for minibuses to approach the stops. Even if they managed to do so, there was not enough time for passengers to get on board. As a result, villagers in his constituency could not get on the minibuses.
225. Mr. Richard CHAN said that other HKPF representatives had submitted written reports on the issues concerned at the Environmental Protection, Fisheries, Agriculture, Industries, Commerce, Food and Health Committee meeting. Therefore, he hoped that the Chairman would ask the HKPF to submit written reports on the number of prosecutions against illegal parking in Tai Po District starting from the next meeting. In addition, he asked the HKPF representatives to listen to Members’ views attentively, instead of fiddling with their mobile phones and chit-chatting.
226. Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk said that the HKPF attended the meeting to listen to and take note of Members’ views. While they respected Members, they also had to look up the papers or look for - 82 - answers with their mobile phones immediately, and discuss with their supervisors so as to come up with replies. Therefore, they disagreed with Member’s accusation that they were just fiddling with their mobile phones and chit-chatting.
227. Mr. Richard CHAN continued that the HKPF had indicated that reducing traffic congestion and keeping the roads clear were departmental policies. However, he opined that it was precisely the failure of the HKPF’s law enforcement policies that had led to the serious illegal parking problem at present. He hoped that the HKPF would reflect on it. He said that policing generally advocated the use of “broken window theory” for law enforcement, and hoped that the HKPF would comply strictly with departmental policies in their law enforcement actions in the future. He then pointed out various road problems as follows:
(i) During holidays, there were often vehicles parked at the road section and passing bay in Ng Tung Chai, obstructing the access of other vehicles. Therefore, he hoped that the HKPF would deploy officers to Ng Tung Chai, Sai Kung North and Shuen Wan to prosecute the illegally parked vehicles at the passing bays during holidays, thus keeping the roads clear by carrying out targeted operations against illegal parking. This would also be in line with the HKPF’s policies.
(ii) Someone had occupied the parking spaces of the Government car park in Ping Long Village by putting tires and parking “dead vehicles” there. As such, he hoped that the HKPF would deploy officers to deal with them. He said that, for example, the HKPF could deploy officers to Ping Long Village to tackle illegal parking between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.
(iii) There were a lot of illegally parked vehicles on both sides of double white lines at the centre of Lam Tsuen Wishing Square. Some of them had their rear obstructing the carriageway, seriously affecting the vehicles turning from Lam Kam Road into Lam Tsuen Wishing Square. He suggested the HKPF send officers to take law enforcement actions there between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.
(iv) As the construction site of The Regent was located on Shan Tong Road, making the illegal parking situation there very serious, he would like the HKPF to send officers to take law enforcement actions there between 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.
(v) The large buses for Mont Vert in Tai Po had 50 to 60 seats, and the passing bay at Tai Wo Bus Terminus were often full of “dead vehicles”. Therefore, if these buses were to travel to Tai Wo Bus Terminus, they had to drop off passengers in the middle of Tai Wo Road. Due to the large number of passengers on board, it would take a few minutes to stop and drop off passengers every single time, leading to traffic congestion at the road section from Po Nga Road to the intersection. He opined that it was also a selected traffic enforcement priority to maintain smooth traffic. Therefore, he would like the HKPF to send officers to maintain traffic order and take - 83 -
law enforcement actions there between 6:30 a.m. and 8 a.m.
(vi) The TTC had written to the Commissioner of Police on 30 September 2019. He would like to follow up on the HKPF’s reply.
228. The Chairman said that Members had raised questions and views on the traffic issues in Tai Po District at the meeting on 13 September 2019. In this connection, the Secretariat had sent an e- mail to the HKPF on 30 September 2019, but the HKPF had not replied yet. He suggested the Secretariat write to the Commissioner of Police again, urging the Tai Po Police District to respond to the issues as soon as possible.
(Post-meeting note: The letter mentioned in paragraph 228 above was issued to the HKPF on 13 May 2020, and the replies were sent to Members on 22 May and 1 June 2020 respectively by e- mail.)
229. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, asked the department concerned about the specific outcome of the traffic improvement works on Po Heung Street. In addition, regarding Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk’s statement of “(relying on the) professional judgement (of law enforcement officers)”, he asked whether exercising professional judgment meant that law enforcement officers could decide how often they could issue another ticket to the same vehicle in accordance with the regulations. He was not happy with the attitude of the two HKPF representatives when they were responding to Mr. Richard CHAN’s question. He said that at first, he did not want to scold at Mr. TSUI as he was not his target, and his superior was. However, when Mr. CHAN reminded Mr. TSUI to focus on the meeting, Mr. TSUI was extremely arrogant. He hoped the HKPF would understand that Members were so angry because the HKPF representatives had skipped the TTC meeting in September 2019 and the TPDC meeting in January 2020 without leave.
230. Ms. Summer LEE said that regarding the traffic improvement measures adopted by the TD to help deal with illegal parking or problems caused by illegal parking, the department had also noticed that illegal parking on certain roads did pose a safety threat to road users. Therefore, the department reviewed the situation constantly and planned to implement several measures, including: (1) Drawing double yellow lines on both sides of junctions and pedestrian crossings, thereby prohibiting vehicles from picking up / dropping off passengers and loading / unloading goods there as they would block the sight of other road users and pose a safety threat. The department had carried out improvement works on Kwong Fuk Road and Fo Chun Road, and would draw double yellow lines in the entire Tai Po District in a gradual manner; (2) The department had noticed that some vehicles were parked illegally on pedestrian ways and cycling tracks, which the department found unacceptable as they posed a safety threat to pedestrians and cyclists. As such, bollards would be set up at illegal parking blackspots, and the relevant works had been carried out on Chong San Road and Fung Yuen Road.
- 84 -
231. Regarding the setting up of bollards, Mr. Alex LAM added that in addition to Members who informed the department of the relevant blackspots from time to time, many enthusiastic members of the public in the district would also put forward their views to the department directly. The department would soon set up bollards in part of the cycling tracks along Fung Yuen Road near Mont Vert and along Ting Kok Road. They would also be set up at different places in phases to prevent vehicles from being parked on pedestrian ways and cycling tracks.
232. Some Members had pointed out that the number of prosecutions for illegal parking in Tai Po District had dropped significantly since June 2019. Mr. FAN Wai-ho said that it was in fact the case. In light of the social movements in June 2019, the entire police force and Tai Po Police District had deployed considerable manpower for riot control as a priority. With the public sentiment improving since early 2020, Tai Po Police District had gradually resumed its traffic enforcement efforts in a comprehensive manner. Since March, Tai Po Police District had also used its remaining resources to partially re-launch its traffic enforcement team. However, the team’s manpower was only half of that before the social movements, and the relevant telephone hotline had not been resumed yet due to insufficient manpower. Tai Po Police District had launched the e- ticketing scheme in mid-March. Traffic wardens would use electronic devices to prosecute the illegally parked vehicles. The HKPF hoped that the scheme would enhance the overall effectiveness of its law enforcement efforts.
233. Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk responded as follows:
(i) They had jotted down every single illegal parking blackspot mentioned by Members, and would take law enforcement actions against the illegal parking problems in the order of severity.
(ii) He thanked Mr. YAM Kai-bong for his proposal to deal with the illegally parked vehicles opposite Tai Po Police Station.
(iii) Mr. YAM Kai-bong mentioned that Hong Kong Island Police District had towed away the illegally parked vehicles as part of its law enforcement efforts. He said that after checking his mobile phone records, he found that Tai Po Police District had worked with the colleagues from Traffic New Territories North to crack down on illegal parking from 29 February to 2 March, during which they had towed away several illegally parked vehicles along Po Nga Road. The HKPF would continue to carry out these operations, and another one would be carried out at the end of this month. He added that he was using his mobile phone while Members were speaking because he wanted to look up the mobile phone records for the date of operations, and he meant no disrespect for Members. As Members had posed various questions, he had to use his mobile phone to discuss with his supervisor how to reply them. As such, he could not always maintain eye contact with the Member who was speaking.
(iv) Tai Po Police District had deployed traffic wardens to implement the e-Ticketing Pilot - 85 -
Scheme in the district. As the scheme was still underway, review had not been done for the time being.
(v) The HKPF would continue to crack down on illegal parking. As the illegal parking problem was usually more serious in the morning and evening, they would visit specific locations at these time periods to take law enforcement actions. As schools had been suspended due to the recent epidemic, it was easier than before for the HKPF to take law enforcement actions in the morning. When taking law enforcement actions in the morning, they had to first check the traffic conditions in different parts of the district, such as the vicinity of Tai Po Market MTR Station, especially Kwong Fuk Estate Roundabout, and the intersection from Tai Wo Road to Tai Po North. They would check whether there were any broken-down vehicles or serious traffic accidents, and inspect the transport hubs in the district, such as the traffic condition from Yuen Shin Road to Tolo Highway. They would also do everything possible to deploy manpower to maintain the law enforcement efforts at the illegal parking blackspots in the district, such as Po Nga Road, Fung Yuen Road and the roads in Tai Po Centre.
(vi) Regarding the question raised by Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, he said that 30 minutes after a penalty ticket had been issued, the HKPF could issue another one to the same vehicle. However, if the driver of the vehicle concerned was present and refused to drive away after the HKPF had issued a penalty ticket, the HKPF could issue another one to the driver five minutes later. In addition, he said that if the illegally parked vehicles did not affect the access of other vehicles, the law enforcement officers would generally deal with them by issuing penalty tickets. However, if the illegally parked vehicles were obstructing the access of other vehicles, such as buses, the law enforcement officers would ask a towing company to tow them away.
(vii) About a month ago, Mr. AU Chun-wah complained that some vehicles had been parked illegally on the pedestrian way opposite Sing Kung Cho Tong on Ting Kok Road. Upon receiving the complaint, the HKPF had asked colleagues to prosecute the illegally parked vehicles on the spot, and he knew that the colleagues had done so. Nonetheless, if the situation continued, the HKPF would continue the law enforcement actions. He would also contact Mr. AU after the meeting for follow- up actions, so as to identify other locations with serious illegal parking problems that required immediate law enforcement actions.
(viii) Members who would like to enquire about the illegal parking situation or traffic conditions in their constituency could contact the colleagues at the Police Community Relations Office, which would provide the information concerned.
234. Mr. LAU Yung-wai’s comments were as follows: - 86 -
(i) The TD had just stated that it would draw double yellow lines next to the pedestrian crossings. However, about four to five years ago, he suggested the department draw double yellow line at the crossing in the vicinity of Tai Po Tau Road near Serenity Park. Nonetheless, the department still had not taken any follow-up actions. As a result, goods vehicles were still parked at the crossing, blocking pedestrians’ sight and forcing vehicles to cross the lane and travel against the traffic. Therefore, he would like the department to take action as soon as possible.
(ii) Serenity Park subways included NS153 and NS154, and the former was only a pedestrian subway without cycling tracks. However, for the sake of convenience, cyclists often cycled from the nearby cycling tracks directly into NS153 on their way to Greenery Plaza. Alternatively, they would cycle from the slope at Greenery Plaza, went through NS153 and headed for NS154. He hoped that the department would explore different ways to resolve the problems. Meanwhile, he could also inspect the scene with the department to explore ways to deal with them.
(iii) Echoing Mr. Richard CHAN, he opined that the HKPF had to submit detailed written reports on the number of prosecutions concerned, such as those for the past three years, as Members always had no idea about the number of prosecutions or the law enforcement actions taken by the HKPF until they attended the meetings. He opined that all the departments concerned should submit papers on all matters arising, which would allow Members to follow up on the situations and find out the follow-up actions taken by the departments before the meeting. He said that, for instance, the TD could submit papers to report on what measures it had taken in the past two months to provide additional parking spaces in the district, which locations had been identified for additional parking spaces, which of the locations were suitable and unsuitable, as well as the data concerned. This could allow Members to assess whether the department had taken follow-up actions seriously, thereby expediting the progress. He believed that the departments concerned could submit similar information on all matters arising for Members to understand the progress clearly.
(iv) He told the HKPF that illegal parking on Kau Hui Chik Street, Mei Sun Lane, Chui Lok Street, Chui Yi Street, Tai Po Tau Road and Tai Po Tau Drive was very serious, and vehicles on Mei Sun Lane had even been forced to travel against the traffic. In addition, some vehicles near the car park on Chui Lok Street also travelled against the traffic and ran through pedestrian crossings, posing considerable dangers. Someone had been injured as a result, but chose not to call the HKPF. He believed that the department concerned should not wait until there were casualties or fatalities before rectifying the traffic problems there. Instead, it should explore ways to resolve the problems after learning about the accidents at there, especially Mei Sun Lane and Chui Lok Street. Although the TD had already drawn double yellow lines at the corner of Kau Hui Chik Street, he still saw vehicles parked there every night. - 87 -
Therefore, he opined that if the HKPF did not go there to take any law enforcement actions, even if the TD had drawn double yellow lines on the road, motorists would not be discouraged from parking there. Kau Hui Chik Street was lined with many nightclubs and bars, which were patronised by a lot of people every night. As such, the HKPF had to take law enforcement actions there more often. As the HKPF had not taken any law enforcement actions there for a long time, the entire street was full of illegally parked vehicles at present, and some were even parked side by side. In addition, the HKPF did not follow up on the illegal parking off Tai Po Tau Road and Tai Po Tau Drive near Serenity Park either. Although some residents had called the HKPF to demand actions against the illegally parked vehicles, the HKPF still did not deploy any officers to take follow-up actions. He hoped that the HKPF would take stringent follow-up actions against the illegal parking at the afore-mentioned locations.
(v) He asked the HKPF whether more traffic wardens had to be recruited to deal with the illegal parking problem.
235. Mr. AU Chun-ho apologised to the HKPF representatives on behalf of Mr. MAN Nim-chi. He said that Mr. MAN was a bit agitated probably due to an incident two days ago in which a DC Member was teased by some riot police officers at Taikoo Shing for having lost an ear. Based on his experience as a TTC Co-opted Member in the past two years, he believed that Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk had followed up on the traffic issues in the district. In addition, he had called the HKPF on many occasions to demand follow-up actions against illegal parking on Chung Nga Road and near Tai Po Centre. However, having waited six hours after calling the HKPF, he still did not see any law enforcement actions from the HKPF. Even if police officers saw the illegally parked vehicles during the time period concerned, they would turn a blind eye to them. Therefore, he asked the HKPF representatives to relay the situation to his colleagues. He said that there was illegal parking literally in the entire Tai Po district, so he asked the HKPF to deal with it. He also asked whether the HKPF, right now, could provide the number of prosecutions from January to March 2019. Last but not least, he indicated that there had been many illegally parked vehicles on the left turn of Kwong Wang Street, namely the area in front of the zebra crossing at Kwong Fuk Estate. In early April 2020, a traffic accident took place there in which a goods vehicle damaged the metal barriers, went out of control and ran onto the opposite lane. The driver claimed that he had lost control as he was trying to swerve away from a pedestrian walking out from the gap between the parked vehicles. Therefore, he asked the HKPF to follow up on the illegal parking there.
236. Mr. Nick LAM’s comments and questions were as follows:
(i) He had always been very supportive of the HKPF in cracking down on illegal parking in a stringent manner, and so have the public in general. Therefore, the HKPF needed not worry that the crackdown on illegal parking would lead to a loss of public - 88 -
support. He had also seen the HKPF prosecute the illegally parked vehicles in Tai Po Market recently. However, there was still much room for improvement. For example, law enforcement actions could be taken more frequently. He said that the HKPF should not take law enforcement actions only after receiving complaints about illegal parking, but should do so continuously, proactively and frequently, because many illegally parked vehicles would return a few days after being prosecuted by the HKPF. As such, he suggested the HKPF consider re-visiting the locations concerned a few days after it had taken law enforcement actions, so as to check whether there were fewer illegally parked vehicles.
(ii) He had asked the HKPF whether it would tow away the illegally parked vehicles that had caused traffic congestion. However, the HKPF stated that it would tow them away only if they had blocked the entire road. In this connection, he had also asked a DC Member in Kwun Tong, who said that when the HKPF dealt with illegal parking on Hoi Yuen Road in Kwun Tong, it might not necessarily wait for the illegally parked vehicles to block the entire road before towing them away. The reason was that Hoi Yuen Road was a trunk road in Kwun Tong. If only one lane was available due to the illegally parked vehicles, traffic would be extremely congested. In this regard, he suggested Tai Po Police District refer to the practice adopted by Kwun Tong District, instead of waiting for the entire road to be blocked before towing away the illegally parked vehicles.
(iii) He had on many occasions suggested recruiting additional traffic wardens at other meetings, and the HKPF had also said that it would implement the suggestion. So far, however, the HKPF had not responded how many additional traffic wardens it would recruit.
(iv) He agreed with Mr. AU Chun-wah that the HKPF should not only ask the illegally parked vehicles to be driven away as it had no deterrence. As such, the HKPF had to act in a stringent manner. He said that if he was a taxi driver, if the HKPF would deal with his illegal parking by merely asking him to drive away, and he would not be punished and needed not face any consequences, he would keep parking illegally. Regarding the illegal parking blackspots in Tai Po Market, he indicated that the illegal parking of taxis on Kwong Fuk Road was very serious. They occupied not only pedestrian ways but also bus stops and unloading areas. When taxis occupied an unloading area, goods vehicles had to unload goods outside it. In addition, he suggested the HKPF take stringent actions against the illegally parked vehicles at the illegal parking blackspots such as the taxi stands on Wan Tau Street, Po Heung Street and Plover Cove Road, rather than just asking the drivers to drive away.
(v) He hoped that the HKPF would provide details of the e-Ticketing Pilot Scheme.
237. Mr. TAM Yi-pui said that due to the construction works at Nai Chung bus stop, buses would - 89 - detour to Nin Ming Road and bypass Sai Sha Road starting from this Wednesday. However, as there had always been illegally parked vehicles on Nin Ming Road, he asked the HKPF to keep in view the situation at the road sections concerned to ensure that buses would not be prevented from entering Nin Ming Road due to the illegally parked vehicles there. He had been voicing his views about the traffic problems on the roads in Yung Shue O, and was planning to invite the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department to patrol the area together in mid-May. He asked the HKPF to also send representatives to participate in it and inspect the situation concerned.
238. Ms. Olive CHAN said that she did not care about how many penalty tickets the HKPF had issued for illegal parking. Instead, she was concerned about whether the HKPF could crack down on illegal parking effectively. She had on many occasions reported the prolonged illegal parking problems on Fuk Wo Road. As there was an emergency access on Fuk Wo Road that should leave sufficient room for fire engines and ambulances to go through, she took the illegal parking problem there seriously. However, the offenders were so unethical that they even parked their vehicles illegally in front of the fire exit railings, thus preventing ambulances from entering to carry out rescue operations on numerous occasions. In this connection, she hoped that the HKPF could step up the efforts to crack down on illegal parking there. In addition, in the vicinity of the gas station on Kwong Fuk Road, motorists ignored traffic congestion and simply parked their vehicles there illegally, or even parked their vehicles in the middle of the roundabout there. Many coaches and goods vehicles reaching the roundabout in the morning were obstructed by the illegally parked vehicles, and honked their horns as a result. A lot of residents had thus complained to her about the honking. Therefore, she hoped that the HKPF could step up the efforts against the illegal parking problem there. She asked the TD to send officers to inspect the two said locations with her to see whether it was possible to amend the traffic signs and road markings on the road sections concerned, so as to help the HKPF take law enforcement actions.
239. The Chairman asked the TD to contact Ms. Olive CHAN after the meeting.
240. Mr. CHOW Yuen-wai said that Tai Po town centre was not the only area in the district that had a serious illegal parking problem. There were also many illegally parked vehicles in the rural area as there were not enough parking spaces at present. In his constituency, for example, illegal parking was getting increasingly serious on Mui Shu Hang Road, Shui Wai Road and Po Nga Road, especially at the entrance of Shui Wai Village where several large goods vehicles were parked illegally every night. He understood that motorists parked their vehicles illegally only because there were no parking spaces in the district. However, he still hoped that the HKPF would deal with the problem. He said that it had been a long time since he last saw the HKPF or traffic wardens patrolling the area, and these patrols were especially rare in the past couple of months. He hoped that the HKPF could explain it and report on the statistics and manpower arrangements concerned.
241. Mr. HO Wai-lam said that illegal parking on Chung Nga Road was so serious in the evening that it had spread to the entire Fu Heng Estate. In addition, he agreed with Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk that - 90 - the HKPF could not be solely relied on to crack down on illegal parking. However, he opined that this statement was valid only if the HKPF had done everything possible to take law enforcement actions over the past nine to ten months. Nonetheless, the HKPF had not done so. DC Members had to follow up on any complaints they had received, regardless of whether they were related to social movements or the epidemic. This was what set them apart from the HKPF. He hoped that the HKPF could resume its previous efforts to crack down on illegal parking and follow up on the illegal parking blackspots named by Members. It should not skip meetings at will as attending meetings was also part of its duties.
242. Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk had noted and would pay extra attention to the illegal parking locations mentioned by Members, which included Tai Po Tau Road, Mei Sun Lane, Tai Po Centre, Chung Nga Road, Shui Wai Road, etc. Regarding the other views put forward by Members, he responded as follows:
(i) Regarding the comments and questions put forward by Mr. AU Chun-ho, he first thanked Mr. AU for his commendation and said that he had done his best to deal with the illegal parking problem for the past few years. However, no matter how hard he had tried, illegal parking still existed. Tai Po Police District had issued 12 827, 11 319 and 11 643 fixed penalty tickets each month from January to March 2019 respectively.
(ii) Regarding the comments and questions put forward by Mr. Nick LAM, he noted Mr. LAM’s suggestion to tow away the illegally parked vehicles. Tai Po Police District had three additional traffic wardens in 2019, and was implementing the e-Ticketing Pilot Scheme at present. Since 20 April 2020, the TD had printed a system- encrypted QR code on every newly issued vehicle license so as to align with the HKPF’s scheme and facilitate its law enforcement actions.
(iii) Regarding Ms. Olive CHAN’s views, he believed that there was indeed illegal parking on Fuk Wo Road in the evening, and the HKPF visited there very frequently in the morning to take law enforcement actions. He said that Fuk Wo Road was at the end of the road section concerned. In addition, due to the epidemic and school suspension in recent months, vehicles that had been prosecuted many times for illegal parking somewhere else were parked on Fuk Wo Road instead. He noted the comments, and would also deploy his colleagues to take law enforcement actions there during the said time period. Although no vehicles would travel on the road section concerned on weekdays, the HKPF still would not allow the illegally parked vehicles to hinder the vehicles of the departments concerned from accessing the afore-mentioned area to carry out emergency rescue operations.
243. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, asked the HyD about the effectiveness of the traffic improvement measures implemented on Po Heung Street in 2019. He opined that if the - 91 - improvement measures of the department concerned were effective, it could consider implementing them at the other illegal parking blackspots in Tai Po District.
244. Mr. SIU Wai-kwan said that the TD drew up the traffic improvement measures on the basis of the design provided by the TD. As such, he asked the TD to provide supplementary information on the effectiveness of the measures.
245. Ms. Summer LEE said that the HyD had mentioned earlier that the works would be launched in early May and was expected to be completed in late June. As such, the traffic improvement had not been completed yet.
246. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, said that according to the minutes in 2019, the department concerned had expected that the works would be launched in October 2019 and completed in November or December. However, it turned out that the works had not been completed yet. In this connection, he asked whether the department concerned could contact Members and invite them to inspect the site concerned before the works began, and explain the outcomes of the works to Members. The department had to believe that the works would be effective before launching them. As such, he opined that if the improvement measures were really effective, the department concerned could also consider implementing them at the other illegal parking blackspots mentioned by Members so as to improve the illegal parking situation.
247. The Chairman asked the department concerned to contact Members via the Secretariat before the works began so as to arrange for an on-site inspection for Members to understand the specific details of the works.
248. Mr. AU Chun-ho said that the number of fixed penalty tickets issued by Tai Po Police District between January and March 2019 was significantly different from that between January and March 2020. Therefore, he hoped that the HKPF would step up its law enforcement efforts to improve the illegal parking situation. In addition, he heard that police officers had prosecuted the illegally parked vehicles within Tai Yuen Estate. In this connection, he asked whether police officers would take the initiative to enter housing estates to prosecute the illegally parked vehicles, or they would initiate prosecution only after the public or the HD had made such requests.
249. Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk said that if the HKPF could resume its previous manpower arrangements, he could arrange for more prosecution operations. Although the HKPF carried out operations against illegal parking on a daily basis, it had also conducted targeted operations against illegal parking for several days in late April. In addition, as the roads within Tai Yuen Estate were private roads, the relevant officers of the housing estate would be tasked with dealing with the illegal parking problem there, unless the problem involved driving offences, heavy road congestion and zebra crossings. For illegal parking in general, the legislation in Hong Kong did not confer on the HKPF any authority to take law enforcement actions on private roads. - 92 -
(4) Setting up an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout
250. Mr. PANG Hiu-fung said that setting up an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout incurred considerable costs as it involved environmental protection measures and the felling of numerous trees. Having considered various factors, the department decided to set up a roundabout at Ng Tung Chai first, and would study whether it was necessary to set up a public transport interchange at Hong Lok Yuen in the future.
251. Mr. Richard CHAN disagreed with the response given by the TD representative at the TTC meeting on 13 September 2019. Back then, she said that after the completion of the roundabout at Ng Tung Chai, the TD would review the situation at the relevant road section of Lam Kam Road and study whether it was necessary to set up an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout. He opined that the main objective of setting up a roundabout at Ng Tung Chai was to improve the traffic to and from Tai Po for Lam Tsuen residents along Lam Kam Road, while setting up an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout was to make good use of the transport network so as to improve the overall traffic flow in Tai Po District. As such, the above two works aimed to address different problems. He asked the department concerned to talk about the estimated completion date of Ng Tung Chai Roundabout first.
252. Mr. SIU Wai-kwan said that he had just outlined the works of setting up a roundabout at Ng Tung Chai as well. The department hoped that the works could be completed by the end of 2022. However, as the works might affect several slopes, it would take even more time if slope stabilisation works were required. Upon the completion of slope stability assessment, the department would review the works schedule for the construction of the roundabout at Ng Tung Chai. At present, however, the preliminary goal was to complete the works by the end of 2022.
253. Mr. Richard CHAN continued that, while the HyD expected that the construction of the roundabout at Ng Tung Chai would be completed by the end of 2022, the TD still stated that it would wait until the works completed before reviewing whether it was necessary to set up an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout. He found this approach not ideal, and said that the department had to anticipate the potential problems in the district and propose ways of improvement as early as possible, instead of exploring ways to resolve problems only after they had materialised. He said that, for example, the department should not wait for the completion and resident intake of The Regent or Area 9 in Tai Po District before dealing with the shortage of parking spaces there. He opined that after the works concerned had been completed, the department would have to spend another year or two to study whether it was necessary to set up an interchange, and it might still be studying the issues ten years later.
254. The Chairman said that the department had only mentioned the expenditure for the - 93 - construction of an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout, rather than considering its feasibility. Therefore, he asked the department whether it was possible to carry out the works while conducting an initial planning for the construction of an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout.
255. Ms. Flora MA said that setting up an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout would not benefit many people. On the contrary, it would be more appropriate to set up a roundabout at Ng Tung Chai as it could benefit the residents along Lam Kam Road as well. In addition, the department had studied the proposal to set up an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout. However, the department’s engineers opined that the works would be extremely large in scale, incur considerable expenditure and take at least eight to ten years to complete. As such, the department opted for setting up a roundabout at Ng Tung Chai as the works could be completed sooner and benefit more people. Nonetheless, the department had also reserved land on Lam Kam Road. It would examine other applications for the change of use of nearby land, as well as the relevant traffic demand.
256. Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang said that about 5 000 residents in the vicinity of Tai Wo Service Road East and Tai Wo Service Road West would not be able to use the roundabout at Ng Tung Chai.
257. Mr. Richard CHAN reiterated that the two works projects above aimed to address different problems. If the department had examined the possibility of setting up an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout, he asked the department to submit the information concerned, including but not limited to when it was proposed, the details, progress, conclusions or any relevant matters. All these requests were mentioned in the discussion paper he had submitted, but the departmental representatives did not prepare any of such information. They only stated at the meeting that the department had studied the suggestion and found it not feasible without providing any justifications. He reiterated that setting up a roundabout at Ng Tung Chai was to improve the traffic in Lam Tsuen, whereas setting up an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout was to improve the expressway network development in the entire Tai Po District, and to use the area as the transport hub of Tai Po District.
258. Ms. Flora MA said that the department was currently exploring ways to improve the transport facilities at Tai Wo Service Road West and Lam Tsuen Valley. She could ask the department’s engineers to provide supplementary information.
259. Mr. Richard CHAN opined that Ms. Flora MA’s response was meaningless as it was related to traffic planning and had nothing to do with the works in question. Moreover, she should not suddenly ask the department’s engineers to respond to the issue.
260. Ms. Flora MA said that the works concerned involved various procedures, such as civil engineering analysis, and the department had different staff responsible for different tasks. As such, the department’s engineers had a better idea about the feasibility of the works. - 94 -
261. Mr. Alex LAM said that the construction of a public transport interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout was something that both Mr. Richard CHAN and the previous DC Members had been striving to take forward, with a view to improving the traffic problems in Lam Tsuen. He said that when the department studied the two works projects above in the past, it had also studied with other departments, and found that the works would incur considerable costs and take a long time to complete. Therefore, the department opined that setting up a roundabout at Ng Tung Chai could tackle the traffic problems in Lam Tsuen sooner. Regarding Mr. CHAN’s proposal to set up an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout to improve the transport network in the entire Tai Po District, he said that the department would, as mentioned earlier, review the structure of and the demand for the entire transport network after the completion of the roundabout at Ng Tung Chai. After that, it would explore ways to follow up on the proposal to set up an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout.
262. Mr. Richard CHAN asked the department to submit a written report detailing matters relating to the construction of an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout. He opined that the department was still confused about the concepts of the works project above. The purpose of setting up a roundabout at Ng Tung Chai was to address the traffic problems along the Lam Tsuen section of Lam Kam Road. However, as the whole Lam Tsuen included Nam Wa Po and the vicinity of Tai Wo Service Road West, the roundabout at Ng Tung Chai could neither meet the traffic demand in Nam Wa Po nor deal with the traffic problem from Fanling to Tai Wo Service Road East.
263. Ms. Flora MA added that the department had indicated in the previous term DC that setting up an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout would not benefit many passengers. Furthermore, the residents in the vicinity of Lam Kam Road could not use the facility either. Therefore, the department opted for setting up a turnaround area at a location further away so as to benefit more residents. As for Tai Wo Service Road East and Tai Wo Service Road West, the department would come up with other ideas to improve the transport from North District to the area concerned.
264. Mr. Richard CHAN opined that Ms. Flora MA had never responded to his questions directly. Instead, she always stressed that setting up a roundabout at Ng Tung Chai could resolve the problems at the Lam Tsuen section of Lam Kam Road, and believed that everything would be fine after the problems had been resolved. The reason why he suggested setting up an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout was that he would like to improve the transport facilities in the entire Tai Po District, so that buses did not necessarily have to travel past Kwong Fuk Estate on the way to other districts. If the department could consider the issues from this perspective, it would realise that the two works projects above involved two different concepts. He asked the department to reply in writing to the questions he had raised in TPDC Paper No. TT 20/2020.
265. The Chairman said that as the proposal to set up an interchange at Lam Kam Road Roundabout was put forward years ago, the department should not have waited ten years before starting to study - 95 -
it. He suggested the Secretariat write to the TD, asking for a specific response about the proposal. In addition, the TTC would continue to follow up on the issues concerned, and Members could also follow up on them at the relevant working group.
(Post-meeting note: The letter mentioned in paragraph 265 above was delivered to the TD on 11 May 2020. Meanwhile, the reply was sent to all Members on 22 May 2020 and discussed at the TTC meeting on 25 May 2020.)
X. Items and timetables for the provision of barrier-free access facilities in Tai Po District (TPDC Paper No. TT 23/2020)
266. Mr. SIU Wai-kwan asked Members to take note of the captioned paper.
267. Mr. Richard CHAN said that as the lifts in HyD Structure No. NF78 and NS145 were located in quieter rural areas, if they were used in the early morning, the volume of their announcements would affect the sleep of nearby residents, especially those along Tai Wo Service Road West. In this connection, he hoped that the department would work with the lift company to turn down the volume of the lifts.
268. Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang asked the HyD about the commencement date of the works for the lifts in HyD Structure No. NF80 and NF82. In addition, he said that there were several footbridges above Tai Wo Service Road East and Tai Wo Service Road West, and the parts of footbridges above the ERL were not covered. He had asked a number of departments about this issue, but all of them said that it was not under their purview. Therefore, he asked if there was any department that could follow up on it by building covers at the afore-mentioned location.
269. Mr. TAM Yi-pui asked whether the department concerned would provide lifts at the footbridge near Symphony Bay, as well as the details concerned.
270. Mr. AU Chun-wah said that the lifts near Lam Tsuen River and Tai Po River would be flooded in the event of typhoons. As the windy and rainy season was approaching, he asked whether the maintenance works and the installation of waterproof equipment or flood sensors mentioned in the past had been completed. He said that the department concerned had never reported on the follow- up work. In addition, he said that he had asked whether flood sensors would be installed in the lifts near rivers. By doing so, if water reached the bottom of the lifts, they would be raised automatically to the ground level to avoid being submerged in water. He heard that before anyone had proposed to install flood sensors in lifts, the department concerned had already thought about this. However, he had never seen any follow-up actions, which left him wonder whether it was because the sensors had malfunctioned or they had not been installed. Nonetheless, after the previous typhoon, he had once again asked the department concerned to install flood sensors in lifts, but still could not see any - 96 - follow-up actions taken by the department concerned.
271. Mr. LAU Yung-wai asked why the department did not include the lift works for HyD Structure No. NS154 in the captioned report. To his knowledge, the department had already started the works. As such, he hoped that the department would include the works in the captioned report for him to find out the progress and situation. In addition, he said that he had told the HyD staff that the department had to install railings at HyD Structure No. NS154. However, in the works to be carried out in the next three months or the works in planning, the department did not mention the progress. That was why he asked about the situation.
272. Mr. SIU Wai-kwan responded as follows:
(i) He noted the views of Mr. Richard CHAN. He would talk to the staff at the Maintenance Section of the department about the volume of announcements coming from the lifts concerned, and report to Members on the follow-up actions.
(ii) Regarding Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang’s question, he said that as another works project was underway at the location of HyD Structure No. NF80, the lift works concerned could not begin until the other works project had been completed. Meanwhile, the lift works concerned would be included in the works contract to be approved by the department in the future. A tender exercise was underway, and it was expected that the works would be launched in the second half of 2020. There were two lifts in HyD Structure No. NF82. The department expected that lift No. 1 would be completed and open for public use by the first quarter of 2021, whereas lift No. 2 had been open for public use since March 2020.
(iii) Regarding Mr. TAM Yi-pui’s question, he said that the responsible department was examining the possibility of installing a lift at the footbridge near Symphony Bay. As regards Mr. AU Chun-wah’s enquiry, he knew that the Structures Maintenance Section of the department had drawn up measures to cope with flooding. He would ask the responsible officer to report the details directly to Mr. AU.
(iv) Regarding Mr. LAU Yung-wai’s question, he said that the department had launched the works concerned in the third quarter of 2019, and would include their progress in the reports to be submitted in the future. As regards the proposal to install railings at HyD Structure No. NS154, he would relay it to the colleagues concerned after the meeting for follow-up actions, and ask them to report the situation to Mr. LAU.
273. Mr. YAM Kai-bong said that the second lift in HyD Structure No. NF266 spanning across Ting Kok Road near Tung Leung Lane was open to the public after the Lunar New Year in February 2020. However, the original ramp of the footbridge was affected by the lift works and therefore had to be restored. Concerned about the progress of ramp restoration works at the footbridge, they contacted the contractor in February. The contractor initially expected that the restoration works could be - 97 -
completed in April. At present, however, it appeared that the works could not be completed as scheduled. As such, he asked whether the department could report on the progress of restoration works. He said that after the original ramp of the footbridge had been restored, even if the lift was out of service due to regular inspection and maintenance, people in need could still use the footbridge. In addition, he said that after the installation of the second lift began in 2015, one of lanes of Ting Kok Road at the location concerned had become unusable. Although motorists had got used to driving along a single lane and traffic congestion was not very serious, the road traffic there would still become heavy from time to time. Therefore, he hoped that the works could be completed as soon as possible so that the lane and cycling track would be re-opened to the public and the road would resume its original state.
274. Mr. SIU Wai-kwan said that he would relay the afore-mentioned views to the relevant colleagues for follow-up actions, and would ask the colleagues concerned to report the progress of the works to Mr. YAM Kai-bong.
XI. Situation report on the traffic improvement works completed in the past two months and to be carried out in the next three months in Tai Po District by the Highways Department (TPDC Paper No. TT 24/2020)
275. Mr. SIU Wai-kwan asked Members to take note of the captioned paper.
276. Mr. Richard CHAN opined that the content in the captioned paper submitted by the HyD was clear, and the TD should learn from it.
277. The Chairman asked about the road resurfacing works carried out on On Po Lane about two months ago. He said that the contractor notified them in the evening that the works would be carried out from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. that day. He saw no urgency in the works. However, as the notification about the works came so late, they could neither inform the residents earlier nor prepare in advance for any complaints that might arise from the works. As such, he asked the department whether the works were that urgent.
278. Mr. SIU Wai-kwan said that as he did not have the information on the works at present, he could not answer whether the works had to be carried out urgently at that time. However, he said that if emergency works had to be carried out, the above situation would be inevitable. He apologised on behalf of the department for the inconvenience caused on that day, and said that if road resurfacing works had to be carried out in the future, the DC Members concerned would be informed as early as possible so that they could inform the residents in the constituencies concerned in advance.
279. Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, said that the captioned paper still showed the contact - 98 - details of an engineer named Mr. CHEUNG Wai-fung, who had been transferred to another department. Therefore, he asked whether he should contact Mr. Alex LAM and Ms. Summer LEE if he would like to ask about the works in the future.
280. Mr. TAM Yi-pui said that he would continue to follow up on the traffic improvement project in Sai Keng Village that was expected to be completed in March 2022. In addition, regarding this improvement project, he asked about the progress of cable relocation carried out gradually by the telecommunications company there. He also asked about the estimated decrease in vehicle speed after a light-controlled crossing had been set up.
281. Regarding Mr. TAM Yi-pui’s enquiries, Mr. SIU Wai-kwan thanked him for his follow-up actions for the improvement project. He also said that the project was rather complicated as the pedestrian way there was very narrow, with a lot of different cables and pipes laid underground. The department had been carrying out relocation works since 2018, during which many power cables, pipes and facilities including distribution boards, fire hydrants and street lamp wires had been relocated. PCCW Limited was currently preparing to relocate its own power cables, after which the department would further co-ordinate with other public utility companies to relocate the power cables further underground. If gas pipes had to be re-routed in the future, the project would become even more complicated. At present, the department had to allow the public utility companies to complete all the relocation works before entering the site to carry out civil engineering works at the pedestrian crossing. Therefore, the department’s works were tentatively scheduled to begin in December 2021. In addition, he said that the project would not change the vehicle speed limit. As regards whether traffic flow would be affected by the proposed traffic light facilities, he asked the TD representatives to provide details.
282. Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang asked once again whether there was any department that could follow up on the absence of covers above the several footbridges over Tai Wo Service Road East and Tai Wo Service Road West. He said that the locations concerned were originally not surrounded by metal fences. However, as the department was worried that someone might throw objects onto the rails, it had set up fences there immediately. However, no department was willing to follow up on the provision of covers. He was also worried that someone might toss objects over the fences onto the rails. Therefore, he urged the department to build covers as soon as possible.
283. Mr. SIU Wai-kwan asked Mr. YIU Yeuk-sang to provide the serial numbers of the footbridges concerned, and would ask the responsible colleagues to follow up on the issue.
284. As regards whether the light-controlled pedestrian crossing in the improvement project in Sai Keng Village would affect traffic flow, Ms. Summer LEE said that the light signal at the light- controlled pedestrian crossing would change only after a pedestrian had pressed the button. After the light signal had changed, the traffic flow would certainly be affected. However, she found it necessary to enhance the safety parameters in Sai Keng Village and provide pedestrians with safe - 99 -
crossing facilities.
285. Mr. TAM Yi-pui said that he would work with the departments concerned to follow up on the improvement project in Sai Keng Village after the meeting.
XII. Formation of working groups (TPDC Paper No. TT 25/2020)
286. The Chairman said that there were three standing working groups under the previous TTC, namely the Working Group on Provision of Public Bus and Minibus Services, Working Group on Improvements to Major Roads in Rural Areas, as well as Working Group on Road Works Concerning “Tolo Highway / Fanling Highway / Liantang Boundary Control Point” (Tai Po Section). After the Working Group on Road Works Concerning “Tolo Highway / Fanling Highway / Liantang Boundary Control Point’ (Tai Po Section)” had been disbanded, the TTC had endorsed the formation of the Working Group on Road Safety Campaign and Cycling Network Development. According to Order 40(1) of the Standing Orders, a committee could set up no more than three standing working groups under it at the same time. He asked Members to refer to Paper No. TT 25/2020, and consider whether to establish three working groups, namely: (1) Working Group on Provision of Public Bus and Minibus Services; (2) Working Group on Improvement to Major Roads; and (3) Working Group on Road Safety Campaign and Cycling Network Development, while endorsing their terms of reference. Members were also asked to consider whether any new working groups had to be set up.
287. Mr. AU Chun-wah suggested setting up the three standing working groups mentioned above in accordance with the captioned paper.
288. The Chairman announced that three standing working groups would be set up under the TTC in the current term DC, namely: (1) Working Group on Provision of Public Bus and Minibus Services; (2) Working Group on Improvement to Major Roads; and (3) Working Group on Road Safety Campaign and Cycling Network Development. Meanwhile, their terms of reference set out in TPDC Paper No. TT 25/2020 had been endorsed.
289. Members elected chairmen of the three working groups above, and details were as follows:
(1) Working Group on Provision of Public Bus and Minibus Services
(i) Mr. AU Chun-ho nominated Mr. YAM Kai-bong as the chairman of the working group, and the nomination was seconded by Mr. LAU Yung-wai.
(ii) Mr. YAM Kai-bong accepted the nomination. - 100 -
(iii) As there was no other nomination, the Chairman announced that Mr. YAM Kai-bong was elected the chairman of the above working group.
(2) Working Group on Improvement to Major Roads
(i) Mr. MAN Nim-chi, the Vice-chairman, nominated Mr. SO Tat-leung as the chairman of the working group, and the nomination was seconded by Mr. Richard CHAN.
(ii) Mr. SO Tat-leung accepted the nomination. (iii) As there was no other nomination, the Chairman announced that Mr. SO Tat-leung was elected the chairman of the above working group.
(3) Working Group on Road Safety Campaign and Cycling Network Development
(i) Mr. HO Wai-lam nominated Mr. TAM Yi-pui as the chairman of the working group, and the nomination was seconded by Ms. Olive CHAN.
(ii) Mr. TAM Yi-pui accepted the nomination. (iii) As there was no other nomination, the Chairman announced that Mr. TAM Yi-pui was elected the chairman of the above working group.
XIII. Any other business
290. Members did not raise any other matters for discussion.
X I V. Date of next meeting
291. The Secretariat would inform Members of the date of next meeting separately.
292. There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:04 p.m.
Tai Po District Council Secretariat June 2020