ENG-2016 — Page 266

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Transport

open-air public car parks. In all, there are about 196,200 off-street public parking spaces, excluding those in government car parks.

Park-and-ride facilities are operated by the MTRCL at Choi Hung Station on the Kwun Tong Line; Hong Kong, Kowloon and Tsing Yi stations on the Airport Express; Hung Hom Station on the East Rail Line; and Kam Sheung Road Station on the West Rail Line and Ocean Park Station on the South Island Line, and by private operators at some commercial car parks located near Olympic Station on the Tung Chung Line, Wu Kai Sha Station on the Ma On Shan Line, Tuen Mun Station on the West Rail Line and Hang Hau Station on the Tseung Kwan O Line.

Road Safety

There were 16,099 road traffic accidents involving injuries in 2016, of which 2,379 were serious and 129 were fatal. This compares with 16,170 accidents in 2015, of which 2,510 were serious and 117 were fatal. The total number of fatal and serious road traffic accidents decreased 4.5 per cent compared with 2015.

Pedestrian Transport

Hillside Escalator Links and Elevator Systems

The Central Mid-levels Escalator Link, Fortress Hill Pedestrian Link, Centre Street Escalator Link and Yuet Wah Street Pedestrian Linkage help pedestrians access hilly terrain. Various new projects are under development to provide more escalator links and elevator systems to improve accessibility in hilly areas.

The pedestrian link at Tsz Wan Shan is partly completed and opened for public use. Three new elevator systems, in Kowloon City, Tsing Yi and Kwai Chung, started construction progressively from December 2016.

Improving Pedestrian Environment

In Yuen Long, the government has completed nine small to medium-scale improvement measures, such as the widening of pedestrian crossings and footpaths at various locations, and a relatively larger improvement measure of streetscape enhancement along both sides of Fung Yau Street North. Detailed design work is being carried out for the proposed elevated pedestrian corridor along the Yuen Long Town Nullah. In Mong Kok, further investigations for a proposed footbridge system are continuing.

Universal Accessibility Programme

Where technically feasible, the government has been installing barrier-free access facilities, such as lifts or ramps, at public footbridges, elevated walkways and subways maintained by the Highways Department for years. Lifts or standard ramps will be retrofitted for existing public walkways that are not equipped with standard barrier-free access facilities and have no alternative barrier-free pedestrian crossing facilities within about 100 metres. Out of the 148 retrofitting works items, 45 items were completed as at end-2016.

The government carries out a Universal Accessibility Programme to enhance barrier-free access facilities at public walkways maintained by the Highways Department. It is taking forward lift

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