ENG-2007 — Page 295

Transport 243

Ferries recorded a daily average of about 83 700 passenger trips within the harbour and about 64 400 passenger trips to/from the outlying islands.

Transport Management

Effective transport management is essential for the orderly and safe operation of the transport system. The Government's regulatory powers are provided under the Road Traffic Ordinance. Every effort is made to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of transport management through the use of modern technology in a variety of areas.

Licensing

At year-end, there were 1799 173 licensed drivers, 558 751 licensed private vehicles and 6 320 government vehicles. There were 372 203 licensed private cars, of which 33 124 were new vehicles registered during the year. Registered goods vehicles totalled 120 532, of which 75 385 were light goods vehicles, 41 848 were medium goods vehicles and 3 299 were heavy goods vehicles. On average, there were 3 635 new learner-drivers per month.

Driver Improvement Scheme

To promote road safety and make drivers more law abiding through better understanding of good driving behaviour and attitude, the Transport Department launched a Driver Improvement Scheme in September 2002 and designated a number of driving schools to help both drivers and road users to behave properly on the road. From September 2002 to December 2007, over 13 000 drivers attended the driving improvement course which they found very useful. About 77 per cent of the drivers who attended the course did not incur new driving-offence points for six months after the course.

Vehicle Examination

Vehicles are examined to ensure they are roadworthy and properly maintained. All public service vehicles, goods vehicles exceeding 1.9 tonnes, and trailers must undergo annual inspections. In 2007, 196 000 vehicles were examined at the four government vehicle examination centres. In addition, 3 500 spot checks were carried out on franchised buses to confirm their safety, roadworthiness and service standards. Private cars over six years old and light goods vehicles not exceeding 1.9 tonnes are inspected annually at 22 designated car testing centres run by the private sector. These centres carried out 216 000 vehicle examinations during the year.

Two chassis dynamometers have been installed in the Kowloon Bay Vehicle. Examination Centre to carry out random checks on smoke emissions from diesel vehicles.

All vehicles imported into Hong Kong may be examined to make sure they meet statutory requirements before they can be registered and licensed. In 2007, of 602 vehicle types approved, 581 went through a simplified procedure that involved examining sample vehicles of the same model.