Following is a question by the Hon Jimmy Ng and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, in the Legislative Council today (November 11):

     The information of the Transport Department (TD) has shown that the number of private cars in Hong Kong has increased from about 402 000 in 2006 to about 640 000 in August 2020, representing a 59 per cent increase, whereas the relevant ratio of parking spaces to vehicles has dropped from 1.51 to 1.07 over the same period. Such figures have revealed that the shortage of parking spaces for private cars has continued to deteriorate. Regarding the supply of car parking spaces, will the Government inform this Council: 

(1) of the projected number of new car parking spaces to be provided by the Government and private developers in the coming three years and, among such parking spaces, the number of those for private cars (with a tabulated breakdown by District Council district); 

(2) in the coming three years, of the projected (i) number of public multi-storey car parks to be newly completed and commissioned and the total number of car parking spaces to be provided therein, and (ii) number of government sites to be let by way of short-term tenancies for use as temporary car parks, and set out the location of, and the number of car parking spaces to be provided on, each of such sites; 

(3) as the Government indicated in November last year that TD was reviewing the standards for provision of car parking spaces set out in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG), and would promulgate the newly revised standards this year, (i) whether TD will, when revising such standards, adjust the standard on the provision of parking spaces for private cars in residential developments from the current standard of providing one parking space per six to nine flats to one parking space per four to five flats; (ii) whether the issues under review include the demand adjustment ratio, the accessibility adjustment ratio and the development intensity adjustment ratio; and (iii) whether TD will take new measures to encourage developers to provide more car parking spaces; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(4) as HKPSG provides that the Government's targets are: by 2020, electric vehicles (EVs) or hybrid vehicles will account for 30 per cent of the private cars and 30 per cent of the parking spaces for private cars in new developments such as residential, industrial and commercial ones will be equipped with EV charging facilities, but as at February this year, the number of EVs registered was 13 890, accounting for only 2.2 per cent of the total number of private cars, and there were only around 2 900 car parking spaces equipped with charging facilities, of the Government's projected number of additional car parking spaces equipped with charging facilities to be provided in government car parks in the coming three years; 

(5) given that the continued increase in the sizes of the private cars manufactured in recent years has made it increasingly frequent that the body of a vehicle crosses the boundary lines of a parking space and the space between vehicles parked adjacently is insufficient for the vehicle doors to be opened, and that the Government indicated in November last year that it was reviewing the standard size for car parking spaces and would take into account the dimensions of licensed vehicles, of the latest progress of the review; and 

(6) given that the Government is taking forward pilot projects on automated parking systems in various districts, of the projected number of smart car parks to be built by the Government in developments such as government facilities and public open spaces under the principle of "single site, multiple uses", and the projected number of car parking spaces to be provided in such car parks, in the coming three years?

Reply:

President,

     The Government's current policy on the provision of car parking spaces is to accord priority to considering and meeting the parking demand of commercial vehicles (CVs), and to provide an appropriate number of private car (PC) parking spaces if the overall development permits, but at the same time not to cause frequent users of public transport to opt for PCs in lieu of public transport so as to avoid aggravating the road traffic. The Government is pursuing a host of short- and medium- to long-term measures to increase car parking spaces as appropriate.

     After consulting the Environment Bureau, the Transport Department (TD) and the Lands Department (LandsD), my reply to the various parts of the Hon Jimmy Ng's question is as follows.

(1) and (2) TD has been closely monitoring the parking needs of different districts, and will continue to take forward various measures to increase the provision of car parking spaces. Since the number and progress in the provision of new parking spaces through various measures hinge on a host of factors, including the views of relevant stakeholders, the time required for seeking funding approval for works projects, the actual progress of implementation of the works projects, etc, TD is not in a position to make a precise projection on the number of parking spaces to be provided in the coming three years.

     Separately, to optimise the use of land resources, LandsD will let out government sites with no imminent development needs by way of short-term tenancy (STT) so as to cater for different needs of the community and the economy (including the parking demand).  According to the latest Tender Forecast published by LandsD (last modified on October 8, 2020), during the period from October 2020 to March 2021, there are altogether two sites proposed to be let by way of STTs under the Abbreviated Tender System for use as new fee-paying car parks. The relevant breakdown of figures by District Lands Offices is tabulated below:
 

District Lands Office	Sites proposed to be let by way of STTs under the Abbreviated Tender System for use as new fee-paying car parks	Estimated number of parking spaces
Kowloon East	1	190
North	1	252

     As regards existing STT fee-paying car parks, same as other applicable STTs, pursuant to the Government's measures rolled out earlier to support enterprises, LandsD has suspended the re-tendering of existing tenancies until the end of March 2021 (unless with special circumstances).

(3) TD has substantially completed the review of the standards for parking facilities specified in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG). TD is consulting relevant stakeholders on the proposed revisions to the parking standards with the objective of promulgating the revised parking standards as soon as possible after taking into account the views gathered during consultation. The revised parking standards will increase the number of PC parking spaces in private and subsidised housing developments and the number of CV parking spaces in subsidised housing in future. Prior to the promulgation of the revised parking standards, TD will require developers to provide parking spaces at the higher end of the current parking standards for new developments.  

(4) As regards the charging arrangement for electric private cars (e-PCs), it has always been the Government's policy direction that e-PC owners should perform daily charging of their e-PCs at their homes, workplaces or other suitable places. Public charging facilities, mainly supplementary in nature, are set up for electric vehicle (EV) owners to top up the batteries of their EVs at times of occasional needs during their trips.

     Given the above policy direction, when planning for the development of charging facilities for e-PCs, the Government's priority is to facilitate and encourage the installation of charging facilities in private buildings. In this connection, the Government has, since April 2011, tightened up the previous practice whereby all private car parks could be disregarded from Gross Floor Area (GFA) calculation (i.e. 100 per cent GFA concessions), by stipulating that only underground private car parks provided with EV charging-enabling infrastructure at each car parking space may be granted 100 per cent GFA concessions, with a view to encouraging developers to provide EV charging-enabling infrastructure in private car parks of new buildings. According to the information of the Buildings Department, for new developments approved during the period from April 2011 to June 2020, over 80 per cent of private parking spaces, involving about 560 car parks and around 68 000 parking spaces, will be provided with EV charging-enabling infrastructure.

     In addition, the EV-charging at Home Subsidy Scheme (EHSS), which assists car parks of existing private residential buildings to install EV charging‑enabling infrastructure, has been open for application since October 21, 2020. EHSS helps resolve the technical and financial problems often encountered in installing EV charging-enabling infrastructure in car parks of the existing private residential buildings, enabling EV owners to install chargers at car parks of their residences according to their own needs in future. It is expected that about 60 000 parking spaces will be provided with EV charging‑enabling infrastructure in three years under EHSS. Together with the above-mentioned EV charging-enabled parking spaces in new buildings granted with GFA concessions, it is anticipated that about one-fourth of all parking spaces in private residential buildings will be EV charging-enabled upon completion of EHSS.

     On the other hand, the Government has allocated $120 million to expand the public EV charging network at government car parks from 2019 to 2022, including installation of additional medium chargers at the car parks managed by TD, the Government Property Agency, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Tourism Commission, which are fully or partially open to the public. Over 1 000 additional public chargers are expected to be in place by 2022, bringing the total number of chargers to about 1 800.

(5) In reviewing the standards for parking facilities specified in HKPSG, TD has also re-visited the current standard dimensions (including length, width and minimum headroom) of parking spaces for different vehicle types (including PCs). The review shows that the current standard dimensions of parking spaces remain appropriate in general. TD will continue to closely monitor the changes in dimensions of licensed PCs and conduct another review of the standard dimensions of parking spaces at appropriate juncture.

(6) TD is actively taking forward six pilot projects on automated parking systems (APSs) so as to consolidate experience in building, operating and managing different types of APSs and the financial arrangements for timely review, which will pave the way for wider application of APSs in government and privately-operated public car parks in future.

     So far, TD has identified four sites, including an STT site at Hoi Shing Road in Tsuen Wan, a public open space site at the junction of Yen Chow Street and Tung Chau Street in Sham Shui Po, and the proposed government building sites at Chung Kong Road in Sheung Wan and Sheung Mau Street in Chai Wan. For the pilot project in Tsuen Wan, LandsD issued invitation of tenders in late September 2020. As regards the pilot project in Sham Shui Po, TD is currently assessing the technical feasibility after securing support from the Sham Shui Po District Council. If technically feasible, the pilot projects in Tsuen Wan and Sham Shui Po are expected to provide about 245 and 200 parking spaces respectively. The numbers of parking spaces that could be provided under the pilot projects in Sheung Wan and Chai Wan are being assessed.

Ends/Wednesday, November 11, 2020
Issued at HKT 15:00

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