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Transport
Parking
On-street parking is provided where there is a demand and where traffic conditions permit. At year-end, Hong Kong had about 18,100 parking spaces with electronic parking meters in operation, managed and operated by a private operator under government contract.
The Government owns 14 multi-storey car parks plus a 'Park-and-Ride Public Car Park' in Sheung Shui, bringing the number of government car parking spaces to about 8,000, run by two private operators under government contract.
In addition to government car parks, off-street public parking is provided by the Airport Authority at the Hong Kong International Airport, the Housing Department and The Link REIT in some public housing estates, and by the private sector in multi-storey commercial/residential buildings and open-air public car parks.
Park-and-ride facilities are operated by MTRCL at Choi Hung Station on the Kwun Tong Line, at Hong Kong, Kowloon and Tsing Yi stations on the Airport Express, Hung Hom Station on the East Rail Line, Kam Sheung Road Station on the West Rail Line, and at some commercial car parks located near Olympic Station on the Tung Chung Line and Hang Hau Station on the Tseung Kwan O Line. In all, there are 200,300 off-street public parking spaces (excluding those in government car parks).
Road Safety
There were 15,894 traffic accidents in 2012, of which 2,385 were serious and 116 were fatal. This compares with 15,541 accidents in 2011, of which 2,190 were serious and 128 were fatal. Traffic accidents involving death and injury increased by 2.3 per cent in 2012, compared with 2011.
The Road Traffic (Amendment) Ordinance 2011, enacted in March 2012, introduced stricter control on drug-driving. It is an offence for anyone to drive with any concentration of six specified illicit drugs (heroin, ketamine ('k'), methamphetamine ("ice'), cannabis ('grass), cocaine and MDMA ('ecstasy')) present in their blood or urine, whether their driving ability is impaired or not. The ordinance also prohibits driving under the influence of any drug to such an extent that the driver is incapable of having proper control of the motor vehicle. The ordinance empowers the police to require drivers suspected of drug-driving to undergo preliminary drug tests. To educate the public on the new drug-driving legislation and the possible effects of drugs on driving ability, the Government published a 'Drug Driving-Never Risk It' leaflet containing information on drug driving offences, police enforcement, preliminary drug tests and the common medicinal drugs that may impair driving ability.
Public Transport and the Environment
The Government bases its plans for public infrastructure projects on sustainable development principles. Together with the operators, it also takes a range of measures to reduce the adverse impact on the environment of road-based transport, including the rationalisation of bus routes and the development of more environment-friendly buses.
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