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TRANSPORT
according to time of day and location. The vehicle owner is billed periodically by computer, and will have controlled access to the full record for his vehicle. Preparations for the pilot stage are proceeding well and the practical demonstration stage will begin in the second half of 1984. After exhaustive testing, the government will be in a position to take the decision in 1985 on whether or not to proceed to a full system.
Goods Vehicles
Goods vehicles increased from 67 606 in December 1982 to 69 000 at the end of 1983. Over the past decade, the number of registered goods vehicles has grown by 8.9 per cent per year. They contribute to congestion when they are on the move as part of the traffic stream and, when loading and unloading, obstruct traffic flow. A study of the Economic and Transport Aspects of the Trucking Industry began in September to establish the role of the industry in the economy, assess its efficiency, consider how it is likely to develop in future and examine policy changes to improve its efficiency.
Port Development and Shipping Services
Hong Kong, one of the world's major ports, has earned a world-wide reputation for efficiency in continuing to meet the increasing demands of modern shipping requirements. The tonnage of shipping visiting the port, the volume of cargo handled and the passenger throughput reflect the optimum utilisation of all port facilities. Victoria Harbour, lying between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, is regarded as one of the most perfect natural harbours in the world. It has an area of some 5 200 hectares, and varies in width from 1.6 to 9.6 kilometres.
The administration of the port is a responsibility of the Director of Marine. He is advised on this by the Port Committee and the Port Executive Committee through which the closest liaison with shipping and commercial interests is maintained to ensure that facilities and services are developed to meet the changing needs of Hong Kong and of ships using the port. The Container Port Executive Committee was set up in 1982 to advise the Director of Marine on matters relating to the container port at Kwai Chung and its future development. The port of Hong Kong, whick ranks among the top three container ports in the world, handled 1.83 million TEU's (20-foot equivalent units) in 1983. The Kwai Chung Container Port has six berths with more than 2 300 metres of quay backed by about 88 hectares of cargo handling area which includes container yards and container freight stations, all of which are operated by private companies or consortia. Up to six 'third generation' container ships can berth simultaneously at the container port. A mobile floating roll-on- roll-off ramp is provided by a container terminal operator at Kwai Chung who, in addition, has a 12-storey multi-purpose godown in operation. This godown has a usable floor area of 52 400 square metres and the first two floors serve as a container freight station. Nearby, at Tsuen Wan, there is a 16-storey godown with a usable floor area of 52 600 square metres, equipped with container lifts serving all floors. A six-storey cargo distribution and handling centre, one of the largest of its kind in the world, is being constructed in Kwai Chung which will more than double the operator's present container capacity.
Further expansion of the Kwai Chung Container Port is constantly under review and the government has recently completed negotiations with the terminal operators to enable two of them to reclaim Kwai Chung Creek. On completion of this reclamation, efficient working capacity of the container terminal will be increased by more than 57 per cent to 2.2 million TEU's a year. The reclamation will be the first in a series of projects to increase the capacity of the container terminals.