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The bus-only lane scheme is in force between 7 am to 10 am daily except Sundays and public holidays.
"At the same time, queue lengths of traffic observed in the before and after periods did not change much although there was initial fluctuation. The loss of road space given to the bus-only lane scheme has not reduced the southbound throughout of the Tate's Cairn Tunnel during the morning peak hours. The flow still exceeds 3,000 vehicles per hour which is the Tunnel's oneway practical capacity," he said.
About 100 franchised buses and up to 30 non-franchised buses use the bus-only lanes under the scheme benefiting about 12,000 passengers.
The spokesman said the scheme was introduced as part of the response to addressing mounting public complaint about delays to public transport between the New Territories and Kowloon.
It comprises three separate lengths of bus-only lanes on the approaches to the Tate's Cairn Tunnel: one on the left hand approach lane to the toll lane area, one in the middle lane along Siu Lek Yuen Road at the junction with its slip road to the Tate's Cairn Tunnel, and one on the left hand lane along Siu Lek Yuen Road approaching Sha Tin Wai Road.
The spokesman said since the introduction of the scheme, the Transport Department had monitored the traffic impact but the intervening Christmas and the Chinese New Year holiday periods and then the completion of the reconstruction of the Lion Rock Tunnel Road have all had some effect on traffic flows.
"Now that traffic has had chance to settle down, before and after comparisons of journey times and queue lengths have been made and indicate that the resultant impact of the bus-only lane scheme gives overall positive benefits," the spokesman said.
End/Friday, April 14, 1995
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