XN000022-1995-02-15 — Page 34

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Some critics have argued that people buy cars because of the inadequacies of our public transport system. This is not the case. No public transport system can be perfect, but ours does extend to virtually all parts of the territory and it is used by 90% of our population. One of the principal problems faced by public transport is road congestion. Unless we address the congestion problem, our efforts to improve bus services will be ineffective. The fact is that many people in Hong Kong, as elsewhere in the world, aspire to private car ownership not because of a lack of alternatives, but because of the greater comfort and convenience of private motoring. Some have said that not enough is being done to upgrade and expand our transport services. Again this is not so. Perhaps we do not give sufficient publicity to the remarkable improvements now taking place in our public transport system. The franchised bus companies will spend $500 million on new buses in the next 12 months, the railway corporations are making huge investments in improving their stations and in substantially raising the capacities of their systems by upgrading signalling equipment. And there will be major new investments in ferry services shortly. And as I have announced recently the Railway Development Strategy will provide a tremendous expansion of the territory's rail systems.

With specific reference to the New Territories, while the population of that area has increased by some 63% over the last 10 years, the carrying capacity of the KCR has increased by 129% and that of the KMB by 104% in the same period. The number of KMB bus routes has grown by 92%. This does not mean we should be complacent, and indeed we will not be so. But I think we should be well pleased with the way in which our public transport system is expanding and continuing to adapt to meet new demands.

Many of the ideas put forward by Honourable Members today deserve and will be given full consideration. For example, we are re-examining the 'park and ride' concept, by which more car parks would be provided in the vicinity of railway stations. A major study on car parking provision is also nearing completion. And we will consider the idea of different categories of licensing as well as cheaper weekend car licences, although this could result in enforcement problems. But it should be recognised that such licensing schemes will not reduce the number of cars on roads during peak hours. Requiring cars to carry a minimum number of passengers when using the cross harbour tunnels will also be looked at, although the difficulties are obvious, especially since an increasing proportion of cross harbour traffic now uses the autotoll lanes. We have tried in the past to encourage the introduction of staggered working hours, but with only modest success despite, for example the concessionary off peak fares offered by the MTRC.