ENG-1993 — Page 278

TRANSPORT

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Emphasis continued to be placed on improving the efficiency with which transport and related services are delivered to the public.

Another significant event was the introduction of fare concessions by the franchised bus and ferry companies for elderly passengers.

This chapter also looks at Hong Kong's port and aviation services.

The Administrative Framework

The Transport Branch of the Government Secretariat, headed by the Secretary for Transport, is responsible for overall policy formulation, direction and co-ordination of internal transport matters. The Secretary for Transport is assisted by the Transport Advisory Committee, which advises the Governor in Council on major transport policies and issues. The committee has 11 appointed members, including the chairman and six government officials, and is supported by a Transport Complaints Unit, which received 12 793 complaint cases on traffic and transport matters in 1993. The Secretary for Transport also chairs the Transport Policy Co-ordinating Committee, which oversees the formulation and implementation of major internal transport policies. On local transport matters, the government is advised by the district boards, and their traffic and transport committees.

The Commissioner for Transport, the head of the Transport Department, is the authority for administering the Road Traffic Ordinance and legislation regulating public transport operations other than railways. His responsibilities cover strategic transport planning, road traffic management, government road tunnels, car parks and metered parking spaces, and the regulation of internal roads and waterborne public transport. He is also the authority for the licensing of drivers and the registration, licensing and inspection of vehicles.

While the police force is the principal agency for enforcing traffic legislation and prosecuting offenders, the prosecutions unit of the Transport Department handles prosecutions involving safety defects found on buses, disqualifications under the Driving Offence Points System, and breaches of vehicle safety regulations and government tunnel regulations. In 1993, the unit handled 23 prosecutions in respect of buses, 5 158 cases for which disqualification was sought under the Driving Offence Points System, and 433 prosecutions in respect of breaches of tunnel and other regulations.

A Transport Tribunal, set up under the Road Traffic Ordinance and chaired by a non-government official, provides the public with a channel of appeal against decisions made by the Commissioner for Transport in respect of the registration and licensing of vehicles, the issue of hire car permits and passenger service licences, and designation of car-testing centres.

The Transport Department also operates an Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre, which co-ordinates special traffic and transport arrangements during serious traffic and transport disruptions, rainstorms and typhoons. The centre undertook 13 operations in 1993.

To tackle the area-wide traffic congestion at the Kwai Chung container port, the police operate, when necessary, the Emergency Container Port Traffic Control Centre jointly with representatives of the Transport Department, Kwai Tsing District Office, the three terminal operators, the Container Tractor Owners Association and the Container Transportation Employee's General Union. The control centre is located within the