North District Council (2020-2023) Minutes of the 3rd Meeting of the Committee on Traffic and Transport Date : 11 May 2020 (Monday) Time : 9:35 a.m. Venue : North District Council Conference Room Present: Committee Chairman Mr LAU Ki-fung* Committee Vice Chairman Mr CHAN Wai-tat * Members Ms LAM Shuk-ching* Mr CHOW Kam-ho* Mr YUEN Ho-lun* Mr CHAN Yuk-ming (9:37 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Mr CHAN, Vincent Chi-fung (9:37 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Mr KWOK Long-fung* Mr KO Wai-kei (9:35 a.m. – 4:54 p.m.) Mr CHEUNG Ching-ho, Franco* Mr CHEUNG Chun-wai* Mr WAN Wo-tat, Warwick (9:35 a.m. – 4:54 p.m.) Ms WONG Hoi-ying* Mr CHIANG Man-ching* Mr LAW Ting-tak* Secretary Mr HO Tat-man, David Executive Officer (District Council)3, North District Office Remarks: * MembersMembers who who attended attended the the whole whole meeting meeting ( ) TimeTime of of attendance Timeattendance of attendance ofof MembersMembers of Members Action In Attendance: Ms KWONG Ting-lok, Maggie Assistant District Officer (North) 1, Home Affairs Department Ms YEUNG Yuet, Leann Senior Transport Officer/North, Transport Department Mr HUI Yin-hang, Daniel Transport Officer/North 1, Transport Department Mr YIP Cho-yam, Joseph Engineer/North 1, Transport Department Ms TSANG Chui-shan, Jocelyn Engineer/North 2, Transport Department Mr TAM Bit-ching District Engineer/Fanling, Highways Department Mr LUK Yin-choi, Jeffrey Engineer/4 (North), Civil Engineering and Development Department Mr FAN Wai-ho District Operations Officer, Tai Po District, Hong Kong Police Force Mr TSUI Yick-fook Station Sergeant, Tai Po District Traffic Team, Hong Kong Police Force Mr LEE Cheuk-kwong Acting Chief Inspector (Operations), Border District, Hong Kong Police Force Mr TSANG Tin-chu Station Sergeant, Border District Traffic Team, Hong Kong Police Force Mr WONG Tze-kin Manager (Operations), The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited Mr Jeff TAM Manager (Public Affairs), The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited 2 Action Mr Desmund TANG Assistant Manager (Transport Planning), The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited Mr Kenneth KUNG Assistant Manager (Operations), Shatin Depot, The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited Mr CHAN Chung-yi Assistant Officer, Planning and Development, The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited Mr KUNG Syu-yan, Louis Operations Manager, Citybus Limited Items 2 and 3 Mr NG Piu, Lawrence Senior Engineer 4/Universal Accessibility, Highways Department Mr LEUNG Ka-yin, Tommy Engineer 10/Universal Accessibility, Highways Department Items 6 to 8 Mr YONG Billy Chak-cheong Public Relations Manager – Projects & Properties, MTR Corporation Limited Mr Sean LEUNG Assistant Public Relations Manager – External Affairs, MTR Corporation Limited Items 11 and 12 Ms CHAN Yuet-ming Absent: Ms LAM Tsz-king 3 Action Opening Remarks The Chairman welcomed Members, representatives of government departments and organisations to the 3rd meeting of the Committee on Traffic and Transport (“the Committee”) and greeted Mr Kenneth KUNG, Assistant Manager (Operations), Shatin Depot and Mr CHAN Chung-yi, Assistant Officer, Planning and Development of the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (“KMB”) in attendance. 2. Mr KWOK Long-fung asked if the Secretariat had received the application for leave from Ms LAM Tsz-king. 3. The Secretary responded that the Secretariat had not received any application for leave from Ms LAM Tsz-king so far. (Post-meeting note: The Secretary checked back the record while the Committee was discussing agenda items 2 and 3, and noted that Ms LAM Tsz-king had submitted an application for leave to the Secretariat by email before the meeting. The Committee would deal with Ms LAM’s application for leave upon completion of the above agenda items. Please refer to paragraph 33 of this minutes of meeting for details.) Item 1 - Confirmation of Minutes of the 2nd Meeting held on 9 March 2020 4. The Committee confirmed the minutes of the 2nd meeting. Item 2 - Special Scheme under the Universal Accessibility Programme (Paper No. 23/2020) Item 3 - Proposal: Request for Provision of Lifts at the Pedestrian Subway at Tai Ping Estate (Paper No. 24/2020) 5. The Chairman welcomed Mr Lawrence NG, Senior Engineer 4/ Universal Accessibility and Mr Tommy LEUNG, Engineer 10/Universal Accessibility of the Highways Department (“HyD”) for their attendance at the meeting. Since Item 2 and Item 3 were both related to the Universal Accessibility Programme (“UAP”), he proposed to discuss the issues together. 4 Action (Mr CHAN Yuk-ming and Mr Vincent CHAN joined the meeting at this juncture.) 6. Mr Tommy LEUNG briefed on Paper No. 23/2020 using slides, which were attached at the annex. 7. Mr Vincent CHAN said that the HyD had submitted a written response to Paper No. 24/2020 and contacted him. He would not brief on the proposal again. 8. Mr CHAN Yuk-ming said that the HyD would not consider retrofitting lift at public walkways where wheelchair ramps were installed (including footbridges connecting Cheung Wah Estate, San Wan Road and Fanling Station Road, and footbridges connecting Luen Wo Hui Market and Regentville Shopping Mall). However, for users of manual wheelchairs, it was very difficult for them to go up the ramp. This reflected that ramps could not help everyone in need. He hoped that the HyD could extend the scope of the UAP to public walkways already provided with wheelchair ramps, and determine whether to retrofit lifts by taking into account factors like population structure of the district, the elderly population, the pedestrian flow of the public walkways, and the gradient of existing wheelchair ramps. 9. Mr Warwick WAN asked whether the lift retrofitting project at Exit A2 of MTR Fanling Station was still at the exploratory stage and the commencement date for the works. 10. Mr CHEUNG Chun-wai said that the HyD proposed to retrofit a lift at the footbridge between Flora Plaza and Wah Ming Estate. Since the road surface at the location was rather narrow and the pedestrian flow was also high, he worried that upon completion of the lift, passengers boarding and alighting from buses would be affected and obstruction to pavement would occur. Besides, he worried that the lights of the lift would affect the residents of Flora Plaza and Wah Ming Estate at their time of sleep. If the aforesaid problems could be resolved, he welcomed the construction of a lift at the footbridge. Moreover, he said that it had taken the HyD two months to replace some simple parts of a lift, so he asked the HyD to provide information on the contact person in charge of cleaning and maintenance of the lift. 5 Action 11. Mr CHOW Kam-ho made the following comments: (a) Apart from the disabled, cyclists were also concerned about the gradient of the pedestrian ramp; (b) When wheelchair users used the footbridge from Fanling Centre to Dawning Views, they need to make a few turns along the ramp to reach the footbridge deck, which was very exhausting; (c) No lift was available at the pedestrian subway connecting Cheung Wah Estate on the side of Fan Leng Lau and Luen Wo Hui, people with disabilities could only use the ramps to go up and down. He asked the HyD whether lift would be provided at the subway; and (d) He learned that the lift construction works at footbridge ND03 was ready to start, and he requested the HyD to provide a tentative completion date of the project. 12. Mr YUEN Ho-lun said that he had used a wheelchair to climb up the pedestrian subway in Tai Ping Estate and found it very exhausting. He opined that the HyD should not consider ramps as facilities that could facilitate wheelchair users. The department should consider the predicament of the disabled and wheelchair users and retrofit lifts at pedestrian walkways with ramps. 13. Mr CHIANG Man-ching was concerned about the progress of the construction of the lifts for pedestrian subway No. NS50 and footbridge No. NF262 under the Third Phase of the UAP, and hoped that the relevant works would be implemented as soon as possible. He pointed out that many elderly people in Sheung Shui Wai were obliged to take footbridge No. NF262 when they went somewhere. 14. The Chairman said that it was necessary to retrofit lift at the footbridge on Luen On Street near Wo Mun Street as soon as possible. Besides, Members pointed out that the ramp could not actually facilitate the disabled and the elderly, nor could it serve the function of a lift. 15. Mr CHAN Wai-tat pointed out that residents of Wah Ming Estate (including wheelchair users) would not use footbridge WM01 to go to platforms 2 and 3 of Wah Ming Bus Terminal. He had once proposed to 6 Action add a zebra crossing and remove the kerb at the drop-off stop of Route 273 at the Wah Ming Bus Terminal, but the Transport Department (“TD”) rejected the proposal. He had reservations about the proposal to retrofit a lift at footbridge WM01, criticising that it was a waste of resources for the Government to retrofit a lift at the footbridge compared to adopting a lower-cost option instead. He also pointed out that in the past, the Government and the North District Council (“NDC”) had carried out many construction works (such as superstructures that could not provide shelter from the rain) that were criticised by residents as a waste of resources. 16. Mr Lawrence NG gave a consolidated reply to Members’ comments and questions as follows: (a) The Government was implementing the UAP by phases. The “Original Programme” was implemented in response to the recommendations of the Equal Opportunities Commission to add barrier-free access facilities to some public walkways, including the construction of lifts and standard ramps.