Road congestion in Hong Kong: a tool-kit approach to policy action

Abstract

With the rapid growth of population in Hong Kong, the government has been formulating different policies including housing, social and transport services to cope with the situation. Undoubtedly one of the major concerns arising from increase of population is road traffic congestion problem. If no appropriate measures are to be taken, the effect would be very detrimental, which not only affect the general public living but also the whole economy of Hong Kong. As such, the congestion problem has been seriously addressed by the government since the early era with numbers of traffic-related policies formulated which aims at alleviating the congestion problem in the whole territory in Hong Kong. Over the past decades, transport services have been expanded in many aspects so as to cope with the ever-increasing population demand as well as to relieve the congested situation. Relieving traffic congestion measures has always been a heated topic in the policy agenda in the government, as well as within the society. Over the past years, the HKSAR had been drawing a number of traffic-related policies to solve the congested problem especially at those black spots. Also while working closely with different public transport stakeholders, more diversified regulations or traffic management measures have also been launched. In this dissertation, the traffic congestion problem and the traffic congestion management measures are the main subjects for discussion. On examining the effectiveness of the policies concerned, a Tool-kit approach will be adopted. Each policy will be addressed under the five policy tools which are used as the basics for reviewing the traffic policies and traffic management measures formulated by the government from the previous decades till the current stage. The 5 chosen Policy Tools are Direct Government; Economic and Social Regulation; Corrective Taxes; Contracting; and Information. The effectiveness of those measures will be further evaluated based on the five criteria: Effectiveness; Efficiency; Equity; Manageability; and Political Legitimacy. Over the past decades, transport services have been expanded in many aspects so as to cope with the ever-increasing population demand as well as to relieve the congested situation. The measures appear to be effective, but there seems to be room for further improvement. Apart from the relieving measures to be discussed, there are still numbers of alternative proposals that can help to alleviate the congestion problem in Hong Kong. One is the adoption of the Electronic Road Pricing System and the other alternatives include better utilization of the RHCs and control the numbers of vehicles on roads. While most of the relieving measures carried out in the past are considered to be effective, that would not be enough as in view of the increasing population, It’s time for the government to take into account other alternatives that are considered to be effective options in solving the congestion problem. While adopting or implementing any of the proposed option requires considerable preparation works and timing, the government should take an active and swift approach without delay.