TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORT SURVEY UNIT
Officer-in-Charge:
S. A. BARDEN, B.Sc. (Eng.) (Hons.), C.Eng., M.I.C.E., A.M.I.T.E.
NIP Kam-fan, M.A., M.Sc. (Eng.), C.Eng., M.I.C.E., A.M.I.H.E. (Acting)
General
5.114. The Traffic and Transport Survey Unit acts as a service agency to any Government Department requiring surveys or data connected with the movement of people or goods.
5.115. The findings of the more significant surveys are issued in the form of technical reports and technical notes: 19 were distributed during the year. 44 data records were also issued, containing the results of minor surveys.
The Traffic Census
5.116. A traffic census covering the urban areas of the Colony was established in 1965 as part of the work of the Passenger Transport Survey Unit. It involves the collection of data on hourly, daily and monthly traffic flows at 59 sites throughout the Colony, and the issue of biannual and annual summaries of the results obtained. Four such summaries were issued and, with the help of staff in the New Territories Administration, the census was extended to cover the New Territories.
Taxi Surveys
5.117. At the instigation of the Transport Advisory Committee, a survey was carried out in March 1968 to establish the level of service provided by the taxi system in the urban areas of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. The survey was a novel one in-so-far as it attempted to determine the adequacy of the service provided in terms of waiting times at taxi ranks and other locations chosen at random on the major road network. The results were used as a guide in predicting the possible effects of issuing more taxi licenses. Although the issue of more taxi licenses was deferred, the survey was repeated in July to check the results of the earlier survey and to note changes in the level of service.
5.118. Another taxi survey of a different nature was also completed, involving a study of the method of operation of the water-taxi or 'walla-walla' as it is more commonly known. Observations were made of the number of passengers and amount of freight carried by these
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