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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1987
+ IT IS BLUNT INSTRUMENT WHICH HAS SO FAR WORKED ALTHOUGH IT CANNOT INFLUENCE TRAFFIC FLOWS IN MAJOR CONGESTION AREAS.
+ THE SECOND ALTERNATIVE IS THE SYSTEM OF DIRECT ROAD PRICING WHICH WOULD MAKE BETTER USE OF THE ROAD NETWORK BY RESTRAINING TRAFFIC IN THE BUSY AREAS AND TIMES, WHILE REDUCING THE COST OF USING VEHICLES IN OFF-PEAK PERIODS AND IN LESS BUSY AREAS.
+ONE SUCH SYSTEM WHICH COULD ACHIEVE THAT DESIRABLE RESULT IS ELECTRONIC ROAD PRICING, UNFORTUNATELY, A SYSTEM WHICH WAS NOT SUPPORTED AT THE TIME WHEN THE REPORT ON ERP WAS PUBLISHED IN 1985,+ HE SAID.
TURNING TO THE OTHER TWO PRINCIPLES OF THE 1979 POLICY WHITE PAPER - IMPROVEMENT OF THE ROAD SYSTEM AND EXPANSION AND IMPROVEMENT OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT -- MR LEEDS SAID A LOT HAD BEEN DONE IN THE SEVEN YEARS SINCE THE REPORT WAS PUBLISHED.
THE ROAD SYSTEM HAD IMPROVED WITH EXPENDITURE OF OVER $7 007 MILLION ON NEW WORKS AND MAINTENANCE.
SEVERAL OF THE MAJOR ROADS THAT HAD BEEN COMPLETED DURING THE PERIOD INCLUDED THE ISLAND EASTERN CORRIDOR, THE AIRPORT TUNNEL, TUEN MUN HIGHWAY, AND TOLO HIGHWAY.
AMONG THE MAJOR WORKS CURRENTLY IN HAND WERE THE JUNK BAY TUNNEL, TATE'S CAIRN TUNNEL, ROUTE 5 FROM SHA TIN TO TSUEN WAN AND THE BORDER CROSSING AT LOK MA CHAU.
ON THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM, MR LEEDS SAID THE PAST SEVEN YEARS HAD PROBABLY SEEN AN INCREASE THAT WAS BIGGER THAN ANYTHING THAT HAD HAPPENED BEFORE AND PERHAPS WOULD NEVER BE MATCHED AGAIN.
AT THE BEGINNING OF 1979, THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS CARRIED ON THE MAJOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT UNDERTAKINGS WAS 4.4 MILLION PER DAY, AND AT THE END OF 1986 IT WAS 9.3 MILLION PER DAY -- AN INCREASE OF 111 PER CENT - A RECORD THAT COULD NOT BE BETTERED BY ANY OTHER LARGE CITY IN THE WORLD.
HONG KONG'S TWO RAILWAYS, THE KOWLOON-CANTON RAILWAY WHICH WAS FULLY ELECTRIFIED IN 1983, AND THE MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY HAD ACHIEVED THE BIGGEST INCREASE IN PASSENGER CARRYING CAPACITY,
IN 1979, THE TWO SYSTEMS CARRIED LESS THAN 200 000 PASSENGERS PER DAY, BUT NOW THE FIGURE HAD REACHED A STAGGERING 1.9 MILLION DAILY.
MR LEEDS SAID THE DEMAND FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT WAS INCREASING AT A PHENOMENAL RATE BECAUSE NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS AND NEW
INDUSTRIAL AREAS NEEDED GOOD COMMUNICATIONS.
/HE SAID