COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT
167
The Cross-Harbour Tunnel provides four traffic lanes in two immersed tubes between the north shore of Hong Kong Island and Hung Hom in Kowloon. The government has a 25 per cent interest in this tunnel which was opened in August, 1972, and is operated by the Cross-Harbour Tunnel Company Limited. An eight-category toll charge, ranging from $2 to $20, is levied on vehicles using the tunnel. In 1980, $213.2 million in revenue was col- lected from 35.3 million vehicles.
In view of the increasing traffic congestion in the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, a consultancy group was appointed by the government to investigate both short-term and long-term aspects of additional cross-harbour facilities. The study of short-term options was finalised and work on the long-term study was scheduled to be completed in early 1981.
The Lion Rock Tunnel links Kowloon with Sha Tin and other areas of the northeastern New Territories. Managed by the Transport Development, the tunnel began operating in November, 1967, as a single-tube facility. Following completion of a second tube and refur- bishment of the original tube, it became fully operational as a twin-tube tunnel in October, 1978. The volume of traffic using the tunnel has steadily increased from a daily average of just over 5,000 vehicles in 1968 to 34,310 in 1980. The three-category toll charge ($1, $1.50 and $2) produced $15.1 million from 12.56 million vehicles during the year.
Two additional twin-tube tunnels are under construction in Hong Kong - the Airport Tunnel at Kai Tak International Airport and the Aberdeen Tunnel on Hong Kong Island.
The Airport Tunnel, which passes under the Kai Tak Airport runway, will form part of a through route connecting the Cross-Harbour Tunnel at Hung Hom on Kowloon peninsula with the airport and the industrial area of Kwun Tong. It will be toll-free and is expected to have one tube in operation by mid-1981, and the second a year later.
B.BILL
Civil engineering works in the Aberdeen Tunnel continued throughout 1980 and electrical and mechanical works to provide the lighting, ventilation and other ancillary services - were begun. This tunnel, together with its approaches (the Canal Road flyover extension to the north and the Wong Chuk Hang Interchange in the south) will form a high-capacity traffic corridor bringing the southern part of Hong Kong Island within easy reach of Kowloon and the New Territories. The north-bound tube of the tunnel is expected to be open to traffic by August, 1981, while the second tube is expected to be operating early in 1982. Both the airport and Aberdeen tunnels will be managed by the Transport Department.
Transport Administration
The Governor in Council is advised by a government-appointed Transport Advisory Com- mittee on the broad issues of transport policy aimed at improving the movement of people and freight. During 1980, the Secretary for the Environment relinquished the chairmanship of the committee in favour of a non-official chairman. The Commissioner for Transport is the statutory authority responsible for the planning and regulation of all forms of public transport; traffic management; vehicle registration and licensing; driving tests and licences; the examination of vehicles; the management of government road tunnels and off-street carparks; and the operation of on-street metered parking spaces. He also undertakes statutory duties under the Road Traffic Ordinance and subsidiary legislation, and is advised on detailed proposals for transport and traffic arrangements by the Standing Conference on Road Use and the Standing Committee on Waterborne Transport. The Transport Tribunal which came into being in December, 1979, provides members of the public with an avenue for the review of cases in which decisions have been made against them by the Commissioner for Transport.