The Government completed a three-month public engagement exercise for the "Electronic Road Pricing Pilot Scheme in Central and its Adjacent Areas" on March 18, 2016, and a total of 515 submissions were received. During the public engagement exercise the Transport and Housing Bureau and Transport Department also organised and participated in 20 events and meetings, including a District Council forum, focus group meetings, thematic seminars and other meetings. In addition, the Secretary for Transport and Housing and the Under Secretary for Transport and Housing separately attended two meetings of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Transport to listen to the views of LegCo members.

     The Government has collated the views received and compiled the public engagement report, which was uploaded today (January 17).

     Electronic road pricing (ERP) is a traffic management tool that can effectively tackle localised road traffic congestion. It primarily aims at reducing the number of vehicles entering and leaving the charging area during the charging period, thereby improving the traffic conditions in the charging area. 

     The public engagement exercise was conducted to enhance public understanding of the basic concepts and overseas experience of ERP, encourage discussion and build a consensus in the community, and allow the Government to solicit the views of the public and stakeholders on the pilot scheme. At the same time, the Government sought public views on the six basic elements (charging area, charging mechanism, charging period, charging level, exemption and concession, technology) and three pertinent issues (privacy concerns, effectiveness, complementary measures) of the pilot scheme.

     The public engagement report has been uploaded to the dedicated website (www.erphk.hk), the websites of the Transport and Housing Bureau (www.thb.gov.hk) and the Transport Department (www.td.gov.hk) for public viewing.

Ends/Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Issued at HKT 18:30

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