TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1981
PARKING CHARGES TO GO UP
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PARKING METER CHARGES ARE TO BE INCREASED BUT NOT UNREALISTICALLY AND NOT FOR SOME TIME.
ALSO, NEW AND MORE SECURE METERS WILL REPLACE EXISTING ONES, AND NEW METERS WILL BE INTRODUCED LATER TO THE NEW TOWNS.
A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN EXPLAINED TODAY (TUESDAY) IT WOULD NOT BE BEFORE JULY THAT THE NEW RATES COME INTO EFFECT THE FIRST INCREASE IN METER CHARGES SINCE 1973.
HE SAID CHARGES WOULD BE REVISED ALONG THE FOLLOWING LINES:
EXISTING RATE
MAXIMUM PERIOD
NEW RATE
50 CENTS PER TWO HOURS $1 PER HOUR
ONE OR TWO HOURS
50 CENTS PER HOUR
$1 PER HOUR
ONE OR TWO HOURS
50 CENTS PER HALF HOUR
$2 PER HOUR
$1 PER HALF HOUR
$2 PER HOUR
HALF HOUR OR TWO HOURS
HALF HOUR OR TWO HOURS
THE SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT THE REVISION WOULD GIVE AN AVERAGE METER RATE OF $1 TO $2 PER HOUR, COMPARED WITH THE EXISTING RATE OF BETWEEN 25 CENTS AND $2 PER HOUR.
HE SAID: THE INCREASES ARE AIMED AT RESTORING THE RELATIVITY BETWEEN OFF-STREET AND ON-STREET PARKING CHARGES. THE IDEA IS TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO USE OFF-STREET CARPARKS WHERE THEY ARE AVAILABLE, AND TO LEAVE MORE KERBSIDE SPACE FOR THE CIRCULATION OF TRAFFIC.+
IN SEPTEMBER LAST YEAR THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT CONDUCTED A METER UTILISATION SURVEY ON HONG KONG ISLAND AND IN KOWLOON. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT APART FROM CENTRAL DURING THE EVENING WHEN DEMEND FOR SPACES WAS LOW, AVAILABILITY WAS SIGNIFICANTLY BELOW THE DESIRED 15 PER CENT LEVEL AT MOST TIMES OF THE DAY.
THE SPOKESMAN SAID THE NEW METER CHARGES WERE LOWER THAN THOSE FOR OFF-STREET PARKING, THE MOST COMMON RATE FOR WHICH WAS NOW $3 PER HOUR DURING THE DAY AND $1 PER HOUR DURING THE NIGHT. PRIVATE CAR PARKS CHARGED BETWEEN $3 AND $5 PER HOUR.
A THREE-YEAR PROGRAMME TO RESTORE, REPLACE AND EXPAND THE NUMBER OF PARKING METERS HAS BEEN DEVISED.
IN 1981-82 SOME 1 600 NEW METERS WILL BE RESTORED TO AREAS FROM WHICH THEY WERE WITHDRAWN IN 1979, ANOTHER 7 800 OLD METERS WILL BE REPLACED WITH NEW AND MORE SECURE METERS, AND 3 500 NEW METERS WILL BE INTRODUCED TO OTHER PARTS OF THE URBAN AREA.
IN 1982-83 A FURTHER 4 000 NEW METERS WILL BE INTRODUCED TO THE NEW TOWNS.
/AND IN