Final countdown to faster drives through tunnels

More than 660,000 vehicles in the SAR have HKeToll tags the Transport Department reports as it prepares for a free-flow service being implemented in the Tsing Sha control area covering the Eagle's Nest, Sha Tin Heights and Tai Wai tunnels from May 7.

From 5 am on that Sunday drivers will no longer need to stop at toll booths to pay.

For those without a vehicle tag their car plates will be snapshotted and a text message sent to drivers to pay the toll within 14 working days.

The tunnel scanner will also be set up at portal frames near the Tsing Sha control area toll plaza to detect vehicle tags.

And a text message will be sent to drivers that they are being charged for using a tunnel.

By Tuesday the Transport Department had issued the 660,000-plus vehicle tags, accounting for about 82 percent of licensed vehicles in Hong Kong. And of these more than 66 percent of owners had opened HKeToll accounts.

Commissioner of Transport Rosanna Law Shuk-pui also said her department has issued over 18,300 tags for 18,000 taxis, which means each has at least one tag.

And more than 45,000 taxi drivers have either bought a driver card for commercial vehicles or created an HKeToll account.

The department is receiving thousands of new applications every day and expects more drivers will create an HKeToll account before the launch at the Tsing Sha control area on May 7.

"They can do so over the HKeToll website or mobile app," Law said of the account creation process. That can be done with a credit card or they can generate a QR code and go to a convenience store to pay.

Those who fail to pay on time will have to fork out a surcharge of HK$175.

The Tsing Sha control area, originally nine lanes, will be reduced to three lanes after HKeToll is implemented, and all the toll booths and auto toll lanes will be removed.

Law expects demolition work of booths to take about three months.

The key point for HKeToll is that drivers will no longer need to change lanes before entering a tunnel or stop at toll booths, Law said, "which means there will be no bottlenecks."

On that, she noted the HKeToll system can process about 70,000 vehicles every hour, while the Tsing Sha control area sees only 60,000 cars each day.

To help with the transition there will be temporary traffic arrangements implemented in the area from 11 pm on May 6.

Both directions of the Eagle's Nest, Sha Tin Heights and Tai Wai tunnels and their connecting roads will be closed temporarily from 2 am to 5 am on May 7.

HKeToll services will be extended to the Shing Mun and Lion Rock tunnels, with details soon, and the aim is to have all government-tolled tunnels in the system within the year.