Bell tolls for harbor with Eastern switch

The new electronic toll system will be extended to the Eastern Harbour Crossing from 5 am on Sunday.

That makes Eastern the last of the three cross-harbor tunnels to get HKeToll in a move that means motorists will no longer be required to stop or queue to pay tolls.

As part of the HKeToll switchover, all Eastern tunnel lanes will be closed between 4 am and 5 am on Sunday, with the Transport Department reminded motorists to plan journeys with a mind to alternative routes.

During the closure, three overnight franchised bus routes - N619, N680, and N691 - will be diverted to the Hung Hom tunnel.

A temporary bus stop will be added to the Cross Harbor Tunnel toll plaza.

For route N680 - in both directions - there will be a temporary bus stop on Lei Yue Mun Road near Lam Tin station, while the remaining bus stops of the three bus routes will not be affected. Departure times for overnight green minibus route 61 will also be adjusted.

The number of lanes on the Kowloon side will also be reduced from seven to four, while it will be three lanes on the Island side instead of the current seven.

Deputy Commissioner for Transport Patrick Ho Kwong-hang said over 98 percent of vehicles in Hong Kong have been issued vehicle tags.

Since May, the system has been implemented at five toll areas - Tsing Sha Control Area, Western Harbour Crossing and Shing Mun, Lion Rock and Cross Harbour tunnels.

Of the daily average 380,000 vehicles using the five tunnels with the HKeToll implemented, 90 percent were detected to have vehicle tags installed, and about 70 percent of them use automatic payment - via Faster Payment System or credit cards.

Principal Transport Officer Albert Ho Kwan-hang reminded drivers to notify the department if they have changed their contact information.

"It will be ideal if drivers provide us with their most-used contact information, such as their mobile phone number," Ho said.

There was a case where a driver could not receive notifications as he did not update his phone number, and he was levied a late surcharge as he could not repay the toll within 14 working days.

Ho's comment was made after a driver was penalized some HK$8,000 for late charges. Ho said the driver had not topped up his stored-value "class tag" adequately and also failed to receive reminders from the system as he had wrongly input his phone number.

The department, he said, would exercise discretion in dealing with the driver, and said the problem would not happen to most drivers as they had vehicle tags registered along with vehicle registrations and could make automatic payments.

Albert Ho said those who bought toll tickets - prepaid cash vouchers to be used at toll booths - can still use them at Tate's Cairn and Aberdeen tunnels, where HKeToll will only be implemented by year-end.

Those who wish for a refund can visit the department's eight refund centers located at car parks in Central, Shau Kei Wan, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kwun Tong, Wong Tai Sin, Kwai Fong, Tsuen Wan, and Sha Tin, from Sunday to June 30 next year.