ENG-2019 — Page 264

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Transport

Licensing

At the year end, there were 2,326,760 licensed drivers, 787,983 licensed private vehicles and 6,383 government vehicles. The licensed private vehicles comprised 58,937 motorcycles and motor tricycles, 573,932 private cars, 18,132 taxis, 13,328 public buses, 729 private buses, 4,315 PLBs, 3,457 private light buses, 71,610 light goods vehicles, 35,322 medium goods vehicles, 6,393 heavy goods vehicles and 1,828 special purpose vehicles. On average, 4,603 new learners' driving licences were issued per month.

Driver Improvement Scheme

The Road Traffic Ordinance and the Road Traffic (Driving-offence Points) Ordinance require that offenders who have been convicted of serious traffic offences and traffic offenders who have accumulated 10 driving-offence points within two years shall attend a driving improvement course. In 2019, about 24,900 people attended the course, about 23,700 of whom were on a mandatory basis. About 93 per cent of participants who attended the course did not incur new driving-offence points within six months of completing the course.

Pre-service Course

Applicants for a full driving licence to drive a PLB must complete a pre-service course. In 2019, about 1,400 people attended the course. The government was exploring an extension of the mandatory pre-service course requirement to applicants for a full driving licence to drive a taxi or public bus, in order to enhance the safety and service quality of these passenger vehicles. Eligibility criteria for the commercial driving licence would also be relaxed by shortening the licence-holding period.

Vehicle Examination

Vehicles are examined routinely to ensure they are safe, roadworthy and properly maintained. Commercial vehicles are checked annually at the four government vehicle examination centres. In 2019, these centres conducted 221,000 vehicle examinations. In addition, 3,550 spot checks were carried out on franchised buses to determine 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 40 designated car testing centres run by the private sector. These centres perform 355,000 vehicle examinations a year.

All imported vehicles must be examined to ensure the statutory requirements are met before they can be registered and licensed. During the year, 1,173 vehicle types were approved.

Intelligent Transport Systems

Smart mobility is an integral part of the government's transport policy. The government develops Intelligent Transport Systems under a three-pronged approach: dissemination of traffic information to the public, traffic control and support for traffic enforcement. The systems help road users receive real-time traffic information, improve traffic monitoring and control, and strengthen the management of incidents.

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