ENG-1986 — Page 225

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TRANSPORT

time being. However, consideration will be given to introducing the system if there is sustained growth in private vehicle ownership or a serious increase in traffic congestion.

Parking

During the year, a total of 11 multi-storey carparks, providing 7 125 parking spaces, were operated on the government's behalf by a private company, while five open-air carparks comprising 635 car and lorry parking spaces and 34 motorcycle spaces were operated by the Transport Department. Other off-street public parking is provided by the Civil Aviation Department at Hong Kong International Airport and by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation at railway stations. Surveys conducted in late 1985 showed that there were about 42 400 spaces in multi-storey, housing estate and open-air carparks owned and operated by the private sector throughout the territory. On-street parking is usually metered and is only provided at locations where traffic conditions permit. In mid-1986, there were 14 900 metered spaces throughout the territory operating during the period 8 a.m. to midnight, from Monday to Saturday. In such areas as Causeway Bay, Happy Valley and Tsim Sha Tsui, where parking demand is high, meter operation has been extended to include Sundays and public holidays.

Licensing

The number of new private cars registered rose from 11 200 in 1985 to 13 900 in 1986. However, as a number of old vehicles were scrapped following the introduction of the private car inspection scheme for six-year old private cars in January 1986, there was a slight decrease in the total number licensed – 144 723 in December 1985 to 139 321 in December 1986.

There was a steady increase in the number of goods vehicles, from 77 492 in December 1985 to 86 633 in December 1986.

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At the end of 1986, the total number of licensed vehicles in all classes was 266 933, an increase of 1.5 per cent over the previous year's total. The number of new learner drivers remained at about 4 000 per month. Under the Driving-Offence Points System imple- mented in August 1984, 697 driving licence holders were disqualified after accruing 15 or more points for committing offences scheduled under the Road Traffic (Driving-Offence Points) Ordinance.

Vehicle Examination

The Transport Department continued to operate four vehicle examination centres at Kowloon Bay, To Kwa Wan, Sheung Kwai Chung and So Kon Po, carrying out annual re-licensing inspections of all public service vehicles, older goods vehicles and vehicles licensed to carry dangerous goods. Transport Department vehicle examiners were also based at three regional police vehicle detention pounds to inspect vehicles which were involved in accidents or suspected to be defective. Airport vehicles were inspected at the airport, while franchised buses were examined at the company depots.

From January 1, a scheme was introduced to allow private cars over six years old to be examined by authorised private garages for the issue of certificates of roadworthiness. A total of 27 737 cars were checked during the year under this scheme.

With the continued monitoring of bus maintenance standards, there was an improve- ment in the condition of franchised buses, resulting in a low number of prosecutions for defects found during unscheduled inspections. At the same time, spot checks of non- franchised buses were increased, and were effective in improving the maintenance standards of the smaller bus companies.

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