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During the consultation exercise on the Report of the Working Party on Measures to Address Traffic Congestion early, there was general support, in this Council, from DBs and from the public, for the user-pays approach and for the introduction of Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) as an important measure to combat traffic congestion. We are now finalising the consultancy brief and 1 expect to seek funds from Council in March to allow the consultancy to begin later this year. Trials will be conducted before the implementation of a full ERP scheme.
Meanwhile, more traffic management schemes, such as giving greater priority to buses and establishing tighter control over goods vehicles loading and unloading in busy areas, will be implemented. Such measures also received wide support during the consultation exercise.
This said we still need effective and quick measures to limit the growth in private car numbers. Fiscal measures may well be unpopular but the Administration firmly believes that increases in the First Registration Tax and Annual Licence Fees would have a direct impact in containing the size of the private car fleet. This has been proven in the past.
In recent months, the sale of and increase in the number of private cars has fallen substantially and is, indeed, now below our target of containing growth to between 2 to 3%. Although no increases in Annual Licence Fees or First Registration Tax are necessary immediately, the Administration needs to have the ability to act swiftly should this become necessary.
The First Registration Tax can be increased by means of a Legislative Council resolution under section 8 of the Motor Vehicle (First Registration Tax) Ordinance. The Passage Tax at the Cross-Harbour Tunnel can also be increased by a Legislative Council resolution under the Cross-Harbour Tunnel (Passage Tax) Ordinance. It is however necessary to amend existing, and provide for new legislation to implement the other fiscal measures.
The Road Traffic (Amendment) (No 3) Bill 1995 seeks to provide powers for the Administration to raise motor vehicle Annual Licence Fees. While the Road Traffic Ordinance currently empowers the Governor in Council to make regulations to provide for fees that may be charged for vehicle licensing, this is limited to cost- related adjustments. Increasing Annual Licence Fees above costs as a measure to deter car ownership requires an amendment to the primary legislation.