Smooth rush-hour flows as new tolls take effect

Rush-hour traffic was smooth yesterday after the "633" toll scheme was implemented at the three harbor crossings, with travel time significantly shortened at the busiest Cross-Harbour Tunnel in Hung Hom, according to Transport Department figures.

The government took back Western Harbour Crossing at midnight yesterday, allowing it to implement the toll adjustment aimed at rationalizing traffic among the three crossings.

Under the "633" scheme tolls for vehicles other than taxis increased to HK$30 from HK$20 at the Hung Hom tunnel and from HK$25 at Eastern Harbour Crossing, while WHC dropped from HK$75 to HK$60.

A HK$25 standard toll for taxis was introduced at all three tunnels.

Taxi drivers appeared to have carried more passengers via the Western tunnel under the new toll scheme.

Cabbie Tse said: "Of course I will recommend passengers to take WHC. Its toll is cheaper now and it's not congested."

Cabbies also said traffic was very smooth at the Hung Hom tunnel during rush hour.

Motor Transport Workers General Union's Leung Tat-chong described the traffic situation at Hung Hom as "very satisfactory." He expected more passengers would prefer WHC, especially those going to West Kowloon and Tsim Sha Tsui.

But Leung said the flow is relatively low during the summer holiday and the actual traffic situation will be seen when the new school year begins next month.

According to the Transport Department, drivers now only need four minutes to travel from Polytechnic University to the Hung Hom tunnel instead of over 12 minutes.

Transport chief Lam Sai-hung said 50 percent more taxis opted to take the Western tunnel. And that is according to plan - which is to even out the traffic flow among tunnels.

"The revenue from the three cross-harbor tunnels is not what's most important," Lam said.

"Our biggest goal is to tackle the traffic congestion."

Lam said WHC will adopt the HKeToll auto toll system from 5am on Sunday and EHC follows suit on August 27, following the launch of the system at CHT last month.

Drivers will no longer need to stop at booths to pay.

The department said about 44,000 vehicles crossed the harbor via the three tunnels between 7am and 10am yesterday, similar to in the past.

Traffic flow at WHC slightly increased by 3 percent, due to more taxis paying tolls in cash, while the traffic flows at CHT and EHC slightly decreased - by about 4 percent and 1 percent respectively.

"With the uniform taxi toll, the number of taxis using WHC has increased by about 50 percent and 20 percent during midnight and morning peak hours respectively, diverting the traffic effectively," a department spokesman said.

A private car, meanwhile, crashed at the WHC manual toll booth. It was towed away.

eunice.lam@singtaonewscorp.com