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18
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1962
INFLATIONARY EFFECT
IN REPLY TO THE CLAIM BY TWO UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS THAT THERE IS AN INFLATIONARY EFFECT IN THE PROPOSALS, MR SCOTT CONCEDED THAT TO A PERSON CONTINUING TO OWN A CAR OR IN FUTURE ACQUIRE ONE, THE COST OF MOTOR ING WILL HAVE GONE UP.
+WE MUST HOWEVER LOOK TO THE OVERALL ECONOMIC EFFECT OF REDUCING THE RATE OF GROWTH IN VEHICLES AT THE SAME TIME AS WE FURTHER IMPROVE ROAD CAPACITY AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT. CONGESTION WILL BE EASED, AND GOODS VEHICLES AND PUBLIC ON-ROAD TRANSPORT WILL BE ABLE TO MOVE MORE EASILY, AND HENCE MORE ECONOMICALLY, HE SAID.
TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES
RESPONDING TO COMMENTS, MOST NOTABLY BY MISS LYDIA DUNN, ON THE INADEQUACY OF TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES OF PREVIOUS YEARS, MR SCOTT REFERRED TO THE ACCOUNT OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING ON TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE, INCLUDING THE MTR AND THE MODERNISATION OF THE KCR, GIVEN BY MR STEPHEN CHEONG EARLIER IN THE DEBATE.
IN ADDITION TO WHAT MR CHEONG HAD MENTIONED, MR SCOTT POINTED TO THE EXPANSION IN CARRYING CAPACITY OF THE TWO MAJOR BUS COMPANIES BY 50 PER CENT OVER THE LAST 3-1/2 YEARS, AND TO LESS DRAMATIC IMPROVEMENTS IN OTHER FORMS OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT.
HE ALSO
+THESE IMPROVEMENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS WILL CONTINUE, WITH THE ACTIVE DIRECTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF GOVERNMENT, HE SAID. GAVE THE ASSURANCE THAT CONTINUING EFFORT WAS BEING PUT INTO INCREASING RESIDENTIAL COACH SERVICES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MAXICAB ROUTES AND ADDED THAT A PRIVATE HIRE CAR SYSTEM WAS
INSTITUTED LAST YEAR.
MISS DUNN HAD IN HER SPEECH SAID SHE BELIEVED THE TIME HAD COME TO CONFER AN ABSOLUTE PRIORITY TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE OPERATIONAL SERVICES.
MR SCOTT SAID HE WARMED TO HER PROPOSAL BUT NOTED THAT IT SPRANG FROM THE EFFECTS IN THE LATER 1970S ON TRANSPORT OF HAVING GIVEN AN ABSOLUTE PRIORITY TO HOUSING.
+THE ADMINISTRATION BELIEVES THAT THE RECENT CHANGES IN THE CONDUCT OF TRANSPORT POLICY ENABLE BETTER COORDINATION PRIORITIES RIGHT, HE SAID.
NEW TERRITORIES CAR OWNERS
TO STRENGTHEN THE FUNCTION AND TO ARE THE WAY TO GET THE BALANCE OF
ON THE PARTICULAR PROBLEMS OF NT RESIDENTS, MR SCOTT SAID IT WAS TRUE THAT THE MEASURES, BROAD-BRUSH AS THEY WERE, COULD NOT TAKE ACCOUNT OF THE FACT THAT CONGESTION WAS NOT, SO FAR, A PROBLEM IN THE NEW TERRITORIES.
HE SAID, HOWEVER, THAT THERE WERE DIFFICULTIES, OUTLINED IN HIS EARLIER SPEECH, IN IMPLEMENTING A PEAK HOUR LICENSING OR AREA LICENSING SYSTEM WHICH DID NOT APPLY TERRITORY-WIDE. HE REGRETTED THAT EVEN AFTER FURTHER EXAMINATION, SUCH SYSTEMS WERE NOT FEASIBLE IN HONG KONG'S PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES.