How HKeToll can make Hong Kong a better city at the street level

When time-varying tolls are introduced at the three cross-harbour tunnels, Hong Kong will have a form of congestion charging for the first time
The charging system could be extended to congested roads which are not tunnels, and free up road space for pedestrians and landscaping

Ian Brownlee

Published: 4:30pm, 5 Dec 2023

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The HKeToll collection system is almost fully in place. On November 26, the Tate’s Cairn Tunnel joined the system, and the Aberdeen Tunnel is next this month. About 430,000 vehicles per day are now being charged through this system. Generally, the transition from toll booths to electronic payment has resulted in smoother traffic flow, and will create more potential for green landscaping.

But this is more than a toll collection system – it is also a traffic management system. On December 17, time-varying tolls will be introduced at the three cross-harbour tunnels. For the first time, Hong Kong will have a form of congestion charging. Hongkongers are sensitive to relatively small differences in pricing, and may take a while to adjust to the new system.

Under the new plan, tolls for private cars using the Western Harbour Tunnel at peak periods will be higher than for the other two tunnels. But all three tunnels will charge the same toll during non-peak hours. The cheapest period is from 7.38pm to 7.29am, when it will be HK$20 for all three tunnels.

Private cars using the Cross-Harbour and the Eastern Harbour Tunnels will pay HK$40 at peak periods in the morning and the evening and HK$30 during the normal period, between 10.23am and 4.29pm. There are a few brief transition periods every day, when there will be progressive charges.

Unfortunately, there is a fixed HK$50 charge for trucks. A reduced charge of, say, HK$20 ought to be implemented for goods vehicles during non-peak hours, to reduce heavy vehicle traffic on the streets at busy times of the day.

The pricing structure is intended to flatten out peak traffic and encourage car use at less busy times. But the higher peak charges will probably also discourage people from using cars. This system should have an impact on how people commute.

Hong Kong’s introduction of a variable charging system at this time is really significant. With the pandemic-induced change in work culture, there are already fewer people travelling from home to work. Travel patterns have changed, and are still in flux. Work locations have also changed, with Central district becoming less of a focal point and many other areas growing in importance. Movement patterns are therefore more diverse.

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Hong Kong railfans flock to take first train of new cross-harbour rail

Add to this the massive increase in railway access – and non-road options – in recent years. With the 2021 opening of the Tuen Ma line, connecting Tuen Mun to Ma On Shan, there is a continuous rail link across the New Territories for the first time.

The 2022 completion of the East Rail line ending at Admiralty is also extremely important. A link from the northern New Territories to Hong Kong Island means that commuters no longer need to change to buses at Hung Hom.

New bus routes connecting to these lines will also change accessibility patterns. Two bus companies have merged and their bus routes have been rationalised. There are now fewer empty buses unnecessarily occupying road space.

The possibility of introducing electronic road pricing (ERP) for Central was discussed for decades. The Transport Department completed a study in 2022 and effectively shelved the idea. It is no longer necessary, as the HKeToll system is effectively an ERP system with the same objectives, but on a wider basis.

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The variable charging system for tunnels is likely to reduce the peak volume of car traffic in many areas, not just the tunnels. The digital pricing system can be easily adjusted to be more responsive to traffic flows.

The charging system could also be extended to other congested roads which are not tunnels, to generally control traffic flows.

A consequence of all of these changes is that there will be less need for vehicles to take up road space in areas like Central. There are enormous areas of underused road paving, very few trees and little landscaping in our older streets. Footpaths are narrow and congested, with inadequate and inconvenient crossing facilities for pedestrians. The design of public space in our central business district is outdated and the environmental quality poor.

A busy street in Hong Kong’s Central district. Photo: Bloomberg

Now is the time to grab this space for people, trees and a high-quality urban environment designed for the future. We need to mitigate sustained high temperatures, and better meet pedestrian needs in a time of climate change.

Freeing more road space from vehicles should be an indirect outcome of the new charging system, and of the recent improvements in accessibility of the railway and bus services.

There will always be a question of whether public road space should be used to park cars, rather than for moving cars, pedestrians and greening. The 2022 digitalisation of parking meters provides scope for better management.

With the introduction of parking app HKeMeter, touchless payment, remote payment and real-time monitoring of vacant spaces, the system has completely changed. However, the ridiculously cheap parking fee of HK$8 per hour has remained unchanged for more than 20 years.

Now is the time to review this and introduce variable parking charges – higher fees during peak periods, and lower charges during non-peak periods. This is the same approach as the HKeToll system and would help reduce congestion.

The quiet changes brought by digital urban management systems provide greater confidence that the city will keep moving. We now need to take this rare opportunity to make the city a better place for people at the street level.

Ian Brownlee is managing director of Masterplan Limited, Planning and Development Advisors, and a member of pedestrianisation advocacy WalkDVRC