eToll start brings end to Hung Hom tunnel stops

Motorists will no longer have to stop to pay the toll when using the Cross-Harbour Tunnel from July 23 under the latest expansion of the new electronic auto-toll system, transport authorities announced yesterday.

To tie in with the implementation of HKeToll, access to tunnels going both ways will not be available from 4 am to 5 am that day to allow transition to the eToll system.

Nine overnight franchised bus routes as well as one green minibus route will be diverted to either the Eastern or Western crossings during the closure.

The Cross-Harbour Tunnel will be reduced to three lanes with the HKeToll implementation, and all booths and auto toll lanes will be done away with.

E-Toll sensors will be set up at portal frames near the tunnel, with text messages sent to drivers that they have been charged.

The Hung Hom crossing, the busiest of three cross-harbor tunnels, will be the fourth government tunnel to have adopted the system, following Tsing Sha Control Area in April and Shing Mun and Lion Rock tunnels in May.

Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung is confident of a smooth launch, despite saying it will be a huge challenge due to its wide road network, taking in most main roads on both sides.

The Transport Department, he said, is liaising closely with police on temporary traffic arrangements at midnight on July 23.

"Drivers can enter the tunnel via so many road junctions on main roads such as Princess Margaret Road, which makes it difficult to manage the vehicle flows," he said.

Next up in the HKeToll plans is Western and Eastern crossings next month.

All government tunnels will adopt the HKeToll system by year-end, Lam said.

New tolls for the three tunnels take effect from August 2, when the government takes back the Western crossing franchise after 30 years.

Tolls for private vehicles at the Cross-Harbour Tunnel go from HK$20 to HK$30 and from HK$25 to HK$30 at Eastern.

Differential fares during rush hours will be introduced by the end of the year.

When pushed over calls for commercial car tolls to be slashed from HK$50 to HK$20, Lam said such a move might increase traffic flows and worsen jams.

He said authorities have considered different factors in setting the tolls, which had to be levied at reasonable levels.

The Transport Department said it has issued more than 790,000 vehicle tags as of Tuesday, covering over 96 percent of vehicles, with about 84 percent of vehicle owners having opened HKeToll accounts.

It also announced yesterday it would stop selling toll tickets from July 17.

A one-off special refund will be made to those who paid for the toll tickets - which are prepaid cash vouchers to be used when crossing manual toll booths - after the eToll system has been extended to all the three cross harbor tunnels.