XN000022-1982-10-20 — Page 5

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1982

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TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT'S VITAL ROLE IN REGULATING TRAFFIC

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THE FUNCTION OF THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT RELATING TO THE REGULATION OF ROAD TRAFFIC HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT IN RECENT YEARS.

THIS IS BECAUSE THE GROWTH IN VEHICLE TRAFFIC MOVEMENT HAS FILLED, AND IN SOME CASES HAS OVERFILLED THE CAPACITY OF THE ROAD SYSTEM, THE COMMISSIONER FOR TRANSPORT, MR PETER LEEDS TOLD A ROTARY LUNCHEON THIS AFTERNOON.

+OUR JOB IS ESSENTIALLY TO MAKE BEST USE OF WHAT IS THERE AND IT COULD BE REGARDED AS A FORM OF RATIONING SYSTEM, HE SAID. IN THIS CONTEXT, HE POINTED OUT, THE VEHICLE LICENSING STRUCTURE WAS NOW QUITE UNASHAMEDLY A FISCAL RATIONING SYSTEM AS WERE MOST OF THE TRAFFIC CONTROL MEASURES.

+IN ITS SIMPLEST FORM, WHERE THE CAPACITY OF A ROAD JUNCTION CANNOT COPE WITH THE TRAFFIC FLOW THEN MOVEMENT, IN TERMS OF THE TIME AND SPACE THAT IS AVAILABLE, HAS TO BE RATIONED OUT BY A SYSTEM OF TRAFFIC LIGHTS.

+WHERE A ROAD'S CAPACITY CANNOT COPE WITH BOTH VEHICULAR TRAFFIC AND PEDESTRIANS, AGAIN TIME AND SPACE HAS TO BE ALLOCATED-USING METHODS THAT VARY FROM THE SIMPLEST FORM, A ZEBRA CROSSING PROGRESSING TO A LIGHT-CONTROLLED CROSSING WORKING ALL THE WAY UP TO COMPLETE SEGREGATION BY HAVING SEPARATE OVERHEAD OR UNDERGROUND PEDESTRIAN WALKWAYS.

+WHERE LOCALISED SYSTEMS ARE INSUFFICIENT, THEN IT IS NECESSARY TO HAVE A MUCH LARGER RATIONING SCHEME BY WAY OF AREA TRAFFIC CONTROL WHERE A WHOLE SYSTEM OF LINKED TRAFFIC LIGHT SIGNALS IS LINKED TO A COMPUTER PROGRAMMED TO CONTROL TRAFFIC FLOWS IN A WHOLE AREA SUCH AS WE ALREADY HAVE IN WEST KOWLOON AND WILL HAVE EVENTUALLY OVER THE WHOLE URBAN AREA.

+PUBLIC TRANSPORT PRIORITY SCHEMES CAN ALSO BE REGARDED AS A SYSTEM OF RATIONING WHEREBY ROAD CAPACITY IS ALLOCATED TO ACHIEVE THE BEST MOVEMENT OF PASSENGERS RATHER THAN VEHICLES. RATIONING SCHEMES ARE NEVER POPULAR BUT THEY HAVE TO BE TOLERATED AS A PROTECTION AGAINST CHAOS, HE SAID.

ON THE RECENT REGIONALISATION OF THE DEPARTMENT TO COVER HONG KONG, KOWLOON AND THE NEW TERRITORIES, MR LEEDS SAID THAT THE FIRST PHASE OF THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT RE-ORGANISATION, WHICH CAME INTO EFFECT ON APRIL 1, HAD BROUGHT ALL THE RIGHT COMPONENT PARTS INTO ONE DEPARTMENT, BUT DID NOT IMMEDIATELY ACHIEVE THE DEGREE OF INTEGRATION LOOKED FOR AND DID NOT MEET THE NEEDS OF DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION ADEQUATELY.

THE NEXT STAGE (EFFECTED LAST MONDAY) CHANGED THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT TO MEET THESE TWO NEEDS.

/MR LEEUS