Minutes of the 9th Meeting of Traffic and Transport Committee (2012-13) Central and Western District Council Date : 20 June 2013 Time : 2:30 pm Venue : Conference Room 14/F., Harbour Building 38 Pier Road, Central, Hong Kong Present: Chairlady Ms CHENG Lai-king* Vice-Chairman Mr HUI Chi-fung Members Mr CHAN Chit-kwai, BBS, JP Mr CHAN Choi-hi Mr CHAN Ho-lim, Joseph Mr CHAN Hok-fung* Mr CHEUNG Yick-hung, Jackie Mr IP Kwok-him, GBS, JP* Mr KAM Nai-wai, MH* Dr Malcolm LAM Mr LEE Chi-hang, Sidney Miss LO Yee-hang Mr MAN Chi-wah, MH* Mr NG Siu-keung, Thomas, MH Miss SIU Ka-yi Mr WONG Kin-shing* Mr YIP Wing-shing, BBS, MH, JP Co-opted Members Mr LEUNG King-yue, Alex Mr CHAN Chi-shing Mr LI Po-ming Mr LI Wang-fung Mr LUI Hung-pan Ms WONG Mi-hing, Shirley* Remarks: * ( ) Document1 (2:30 pm – 5:50 pm) (2:30 pm – 6:30 pm) (2:30 pm – 6:46 pm) (2:46 pm – end of the meeting) (2:30 pm – 5:27 pm) (2:35 pm – end of the meeting) (2:30 pm – 6:38 pm) (3:10 pm – end of the meeting) (4:03 pm – end of the meeting) (2:40 pm – end of the meeting) (2:30 pm – 6:25 pm) (6:17 pm – end of the meeting) (3:05 pm – end of the meeting) (2:30 pm – 6:02 pm) (2:52 pm – end of the meeting) (3:15 pm – 6:48 pm) Members that attended the whole meeting The time of attendance of the Member 1 Guests Item 4 Mr CHIU Cheuk-siu Mr YU Hing-wai Mr WONG Tsan-kwong Item 5 Mr LAM Wai-chuen, Eddie Item 6 Mr CHAN Yu-yuen, Chris Mr CHEUNG Mun-kit Mr POON Wing-hong Ms Carmen CHU Mr Brad FONG Item 7 Mr CHEUNG Chi-yeung, Fabian Item 8 Ms YEUNG Lok-kei, Kiki Mr CHEUNG Chi-wai Mr CHAN Kwong-ming Item 9 Miss TSUI Shuk-ting, Yvonne Item 10 Miss TSUI Shuk-ting, Yvonne Item 11 Miss TSUI Shuk-ting, Yvonne Document1 Senior Engineer 2/Central Wanchai Bypass, Highways Department Senior Resident Engineer, AECOM Asia Company Limited Project Manager, Leighton Contractors (Asia) Limited Senior Engineer 7 (Hong Kong Island Division 1), Civil Engineering and Development Department Chief Engineer/Strategic Roads, Transport Department Senior Engineer/Strategic Roads 5, Transport Department Engineer/Strategic Roads 9, Transport Department Associate Director, Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd. Assistant Engineer, Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd. Senior Transport Officer/Transport Facilities Management, Transport Department Engineer/Special Duties, Transport Department District Operations Officer (Central District), Hong Kong Police Force Officer-in-Charge, District Traffic Team (Central District), Hong Kong Police Force Senior Transport Officer/Central and Western, Transport Department Senior Transport Officer/Central and Western, Transport Department Senior Transport Officer/Central and Western, Transport Department 2 Item 12 Miss TSUI Shuk-ting, Yvonne Senior Transport Officer/Central and Western, Transport Department Item 13 Ms YEUNG Lok-kei, Kiki Engineer/Special Duties, Transport Department Miss LEUNG Cheuk-lam, Shirley Engineer/Central and Western 3, Transport Department Mr CHAN Kun District Operations Officer (Western District) (Atg), Hong Kong Police Force Mr LAU Wing-fu Officer-in-Charge, District Traffic Team (Western District), Hong Kong Police Force Item 14 Miss TSUI Shuk-ting, Yvonne Mr LOK Chun-chung, Francis Mr WONG Chun-hung Mr Eric OR Ms Penny CHUNG Item 15 Miss TSUI Shuk-ting, Yvonne Mr WAI Hon-kwok Mr CHEUNG Chi-wai Mr CHAN Kwong-ming Senior Transport Officer/Central and Western, Transport Department Engineer/Central and Western 1, Transport Department Senior District Engineer/ HNW, Highways Department Operations Manager, the "Star" Ferry Company, Limited Public Affairs Officer, Citybus Limited/ New World First Bus Services Limited Senior Transport Officer/Central and Western, Transport Department Principal Technical Officer (Traffic)/ Southern and Peak, Transport Department District Operations Officer (Central District), Hong Kong Police Force Officer-in-Charge, District Traffic Team (Central District), Hong Kong Police Force In Attendance: Miss CHOW Ho-kiu, Cheryl, JP Mr CHAN Yun-man, Winston Ms WONG Ming-wai District Officer (Central and Western) Assistant District Officer (Central and Western) Senior Executive Officer (District Council), Central and Western District Office Ms YEUNG Lai-ching, Regent Senior Executive Officer (District Management), Central and Western District Office Miss TSUI Shuk-ting, Yvonne Senior Transport Officer/Central and Western, Transport Department Mr LOK Chun-chung, Francis Engineer/Central and Western 1, Transport Department Mr LAM Shu-kee, Philip Engineer/Central and Western 2, Transport Department Miss LEUNG Cheuk-lam, Shirley Engineer/Central and Western 3, Transport Department Document1 3 Ms YEUNG Lok-kei, Kiki Mr WAI Hon-kwok Mr WONG Chun-hung Mr LAM Wai-chuen, Eddie Mr CHEUNG Chi-wai Mr CHAN Kwong-ming Mr CHAN Kun Mr LAU Wing-fu Secretary Miss CHUNG Yeuk-hung Absent with Apologies: Mr CHEUNG Kwok-kwan Mr CHAN Chi-ming, Lawrence Engineer/Special Duties, Transport Department Principal Technical Officer (Traffic)/ Southern and Peak, Transport Department Senior District Engineer/HNW, Highways Department Senior Engineer 7 (Hong Kong Island Division 1), Civil Engineering and Development Department District Operations Officer (Central District), Hong Kong Police Force Officer-in-Charge, District Traffic Team (Central District), Hong Kong Police Force District Operations Officer (Western District) (Atg), Hong Kong Police Force Officer-in-Charge District Traffic Team (Western District), Hong Kong Police Force Executive Officer (District Council) 2, Central and Western District Office Senior Engineer/Central and Western, Transport Department Welcome Remarks The Chairlady welcomed Members and representatives from government departments to the 9 meeting of the Traffic and Transport Committee (TTC) (2012-13). She also welcomed Mr Winston CHAN, Assistant District Officer (Central and Western) and Mr CHEUNG Chi-wai, District Operations Officer (Central District) of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF), who succeeded Miss KEI Lai-ting, Grace and Mr Paul EDMISTON respectively and attended the meeting for the first time. th Item 1: 1. Members had no comment on the agenda and the agenda was adopted. Item 2: 2. Adoption of the agenda Confirmation of the minutes of the 8th TTC meeting on 18 April 2013 The Committee confirmed the minutes of the 8th meeting of the TTC. Item 3: Chairlady’s report 3. As regards the selected Minor Works Projects and their Schedules (as of May 2013), the Secretariat had distributed the report to Members for their perusal before the meeting. The Secretariat had not received any comments from Members. Document1 4 4. To dovetail with the commissioning of the West Island Line and the South Island Line (East) in 2014 and 2015 respectively, the Transport Department (TD) had formulated an intermodal co-ordination scheme of public transport services for the two lines and intended to consult the TTC about the scheme. The Chairlady agreed to hold the first special meeting of the TTC in the Conference Room, 14/F., Harbour Building, 38 Pier Road, Central, Hong Kong at 1:00 pm on 25 July 2013 (Thursday) (before the 10th meeting of the District Facilities Management Committee) for discussion of the scheme. Members were asked to attend the meeting. Standing item: Central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link – Report on the progress of the Central Interchange project (C&W TTC Paper No. 29/2013) (2:32 pm – 2:46 pm) Item 4: 5. Mr CHIU Cheuk-siu, Senior Engineer 2/Central Wanchai Bypass of the Highways Department (HyD), reported on the works progress of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link - the Central Interchange project. He said that major works carried out in the past six months included the widening of the flyover at Man Po Street and the construction of the flyover outside Four Seasons Hotel. The structural works of the tunnel link roads went smoothly and the evacuation works was near completion. In the next six months, the structural works of the tunnel and the construction of the two flyovers would continue. The eastbound carriageway of Finance Street would be re-opened in the fourth quarter of 2013 when the temporary road across construction sites would be closed. The HyD would put in place sufficient traffic directory signs to guide the motoring community and pedestrians. In addition, the HyD would resume the original traffic arrangements of Man Yiu Street in the first quarter of 2014, and the temporary link road would only be closed when Road P1 was completed. After the resumption of the original routing of Man Yiu Street, vehicles travelling from southbound Man Yiu Street would not be allowed to turn right to Finance Street, which was the same as the present situation. It had been wrongly indicated in the figure near the bottom of the last page of the paper submitted before the meeting that vehicles were allowed to turn right. The HyD would submit an amended version of the paper to the Secretariat after the meeting for rectification accordingly. 6. The Vice-Chairman invited Members to discuss the paper. Members were as follows: Questions and views of (a) The Chairlady asked the HyD when the resumption of the original routing of Man Yiu Street would be announced. (b) Mr CHAN Hok-fung said that as the open space outside Central Pier No. 10 had been allocated for the development of an observation wheel, the pedestrian and traffic flow in the area were expected to increase. He suggested the HyD co-ordinate with the relevant departments for traffic arrangements in advance. 7. Mr CHIU Cheuk-siu said that the HyD would resume the traffic arrangements of Man Yiu Street in the first quarter of 2014. The number of carriageways in Man Yiu Street would not be reduced. 8. Mr Francis LOK, Engineer/Central and Western 1 of the TD, said that the TD had not yet received the operational arrangements from the contractor of the observation wheel. The TD would study with relevant departments as soon as possible upon receipt of the operational arrangements and would study the possibility of altering the traffic and transportation facilities Document1 5 in the vicinity. 9. Mr CHAN Hok-fung was concerned that the tailback along Man Yiu Street would stretch to the roundabout when the street resumed its original alignment in which the length was shorter. He suggested the HyD establish contact with the contractor of the observation wheel as early as possible. 10. The Chairlady suggested the parties concerned attend District Council (DC) meetings again to discuss the arrangements with Members before the operator of the observation wheel implement the development plan. 11. Miss Cheryl CHOW, District Officer (Central and Western), said that the Central and Western District Office (C&WDO) was actively in contact with the Development Bureau (DevB). It had invited the DevB and the contractor of the observation wheel to attend DC meetings to report on the latest development of the observation wheel and the future operational arrangements. The C&WDO would convey Members’ view about service facilities for transportation to the DevB. The DevB was expected to attend the DC meeting or the meeting of the Culture, Leisure and Social Affairs Committee by the fourth quarter of 2013 to answer Members’ enquiries. 12. The Vice-Chairman thanked the guests for attending the meeting. Agenda Item 5: Traffic Arrangement at the area north of the Hong Kong City Hall in Edinburgh Place in Central (C&W TTC Paper No. 30/2013) (2:46 pm – 3:00 pm) 13. Mr Eddie LAM, Senior Engineer 7 (Hong Kong Island Division 1) of the Civil Engineering and Development (CEDD), said that vehicles heading for the pick-up/drop-off area of the Hong Kong City Hall used to go from Connaught Road Central eastbound via Edinburgh Place. Later, it was proposed in the road works of Central Reclamation Phase III that traffic be diverted to the west of Edinburgh Place, and the department was authorised to implement the relevant arrangement under the Roads (Works, Use and Compensation) Ordinance in 2002. The department had received requests from the public to maintain the original traffic arrangement during the works and finally adopted the suggestion as the relevant arrangement could keep the original features of Edinburgh Place. In order to separate vehicles and pedestrians properly without having an impact on the environment of the area concerned, the department proposed to place movable flower pots at Edinburgh Place north of the City Hall to separate pedestrians and vehicles and to install pedestrian signs and road signs at appropriate locations. He said that a trial run of the relevant arrangement had been conducted early the year. The result was satisfactory and it was proposed to implement the relevant arrangement on a long-term basis. 14. The Vice-Chairman invited Members to discuss the paper. Questions and views of Members were as follows: (a) Document1 Mr IP Kwok-him agreed that the department should conduct a review on the relevant traffic arrangement, and stressed that the current arrangement had caused huge inconvenience to motorists as they had to make a detour around the City Hall when exiting from it and could not go eastward directly, adding burden to the traffic flow near the General Post Office. 6 (b) Mr MAN Chi-wah asked the department to consider allowing vehicles to go eastward after exiting from the City Hall no matter vehicles entering it from the east or the west, so that vehicles did not have to take a circuitous route to the General Post Office. (c) The Chairlady said that there were vehicle-pedestrian conflicts at Edinburgh Place north of the City Hall, and enquired how the department ensured that pedestrians could enter or leave the location concerned safely. 15. Mr Eddie LAM said that the department had placed flower pots at Edinburgh Place north of the City Hall to separate pedestrians and vehicles, and would install pedestrian signs and road signs at appropriate locations to indicate directions for pedestrians. In addition, railings had been installed at west Edinburgh Place to stop vehicles from entering, thus there would not be vehicle-pedestrian conflicts. He then left Members’ suggestion of allowing vehicles to turn right onto Lung Wo Road eastbound after leaving the City Hall to the TD to respond. 16. Mr Francis LOK, Engineer/Central and Western 1 of the TD, said that if vehicles were allowed to turn right from the City Hall to Edinburgh Place southbound, the traffic flow of the section concerned would be affected and it would be relatively dangerous for other motorists. He replied that the CEDD might conduct a study on changing the traffic arrangement for Lung Wo Road to enable vehicles to go eastward without having to pass by Connaught Road Central. 17. Mr Eddie LAM thanked Members’ support for the traffic arrangement for Edinburgh Place north of the City Hall, and understood Members’ suggestion of allowing vehicles to turn right onto Lung Wo Road eastbound after leaving the City Hall. He would conduct a study with the TD. 18. The Vice-Chairman suggested that the departments concerned conduct further study on the traffic direction of the exit of the City Hall, and thanked the guests for attending the meeting. Agenda Item 6: Study on loading /unloading and parking space of goods vehicles on Hong Kong Island (C&W TTC Paper No. 31/2013) (3:00 pm – 3:59 pm) 19. Ms Carmen CHU, Associate Director of Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd., said that the consultancy firm had started to collect statistics and carry out a comprehensive study on the supply and demand of parking spaces and loading/unloading spaces for goods vehicles (GVs) on Hong Kong Island since 2010, so as to estimate the overall supply and demand of GV parking spaces in 2016 and 2021. She reported that according to the result of the study, the overall number of designated GV parking spaces on Hong Kong Island in the base year was sufficient. However, the demand for such parking spaces in the Central and Western (C&W) District and Wan Chai District were slightly serious, lacking 30 and 40 respectively. If there were no short-term tenancy (STT) car parks, the C&W District would have a shortage of around 235 designated GV parking spaces. As for the supply of the loading/unloading spaces for GVs on Hong Kong Island, truck drivers would co-ordinate with each other in general to minimise the impact on the traffic of the roads nearby and the situation was Document1 7 therefore acceptable. She said that the truck drivers on Hong Kong Island were mainly engaged in the wholesale and retail sector. They preferred monthly parking spaces which cost around $2,000 to $2,500 per month and would choose parking locations having regard to parking charges. She said that the consultancy firm had forecasted the future parking demand for GVs according to the estimated statistics on the distribution of population and industries, etc. The result showed that the demand for GV parking spaces would decrease by 2% and 18% in 2016 and 2021 respectively with the gradual decrease in the scale of the manufacturing industry on Hong Kong Island. It was expected that a balance in supply and demand would be reached in 2021. She stressed that despite the decrease in the demand for GV parking spaces in the long run, it was still proposed to implement short-term measures as the number of STT car parks might fall gradually. The measures included to provide a car park for GVs with 21 parking spaces at the space under the Connaught Road West flyover in the Western District and to provide a total of 29 on-street metered parking spaces for GVs in the Central District, with 5 at Pier Road and 24 at Man Kwong Street respectively. She said that there was currently a flower bed where trees were planted at Man Kwong Street facing the pier. It was proposed to move the trees inwards in order to make space for a carriageway. In addition, a connection point would be provided to link the car park under the Connaught Road West flyover with the existing footbridge so that truck drivers could enter and leave the car park safely. In the long run, the consultancy firm proposed that parking spaces for GVs be included in the planning of the land use of the western part of Kennedy Town or in future major development projects so as to further increase the supply of GV parking spaces on Hong Kong Island. 20. The Vice-Chairman invited Members to discuss the paper. Questions and views of Members were as follows: Document1 (a) Mr CHAN Hok-fung queried if the TD used the report as an excuse to continue to use the STT car parks in the C&W District. He stressed that the C&WDC would like to develop the GV parking spaces near the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park and the Western Wholesale Food Market into a waterfront promenade, and asked the department to note the decision of the C&WDC. He said that although it had been decided a few years ago that the vacant site under the Connaught Road West flyover would be used as a GV car park, the department had yet to take concrete actions. He found it hard to accept and support the paper for the department had spent much money and time on conducting the studies but only came up with a proposed addition of 29 roadside parking spaces at Pier Road and Man Kwong Street. (b) Mr KAM Nai-wai opined that the shortage of GV parking spaces in the C&W District was a matter of common knowledge, and that conducting such a study was a waste of the taxpayers’ money. He pointed out that the problem of illegal parking was serious at Man Kwong Street, Man Yiu Street and Finance Street currently, and opined that it was meaningless for the TD to further waste the taxpayers’ money to transplant the trees to increase the number of parking spaces. (c) Mr CHAN Chit-kwai said that the TTC had reflected the shortage of GV parking spaces in the C&W District to the TD many years ago, and that it was unreasonable for department not to take the matter seriously and conduct a study on the GV parking spaces on Hong Kong Island until the present stage. He said that although 50 parking spaces were not enough to meet the demand, they were better than none, and asked the department to implement the arrangement as soon as possible. In addition, he pointed out that Rock Hill Street was a black spot of 8 illegal parking, and the Police acquiesced in such a situation and did not press charges. He asked the department to consider setting up meters to legalise parking there. Document1 (d) Mr CHAN Choi-hi opined that the TD should estimate both the best and the worst scenarios when conducting the study, and enquired what measures the department had in place if the demand for GV parking spaces did not fall by 18% in 2021. He opined that the shortage of parking spaces for both private cars and GVs in the C&W District was severe, and asked the TD to include private cars in the study of GV parking spaces. He urged the department to provide GV parking spaces under the Connaught Road West flyover as soon as possible, and suggested that the department consider providing GV parking spaces at the bus stop near Shun Tak Centre. (e) Mr Joseph CHAN said that the scale of the manufacturing industry on Hong Kong Island had been shrinking over the last decade, and asked the department to provide other more concrete statistics to support the inference that the demand for GV parking spaces would fall. Moreover, he pointed out that the need to include some GV parking spaces in future development projects had been mentioned in many papers in the past. The TD should have put forward more specific proposals and plans in the four-year study. He stressed that there was a severe shortage of parking spaces for private cars in the C&W District, and asked the department to strike a balance between the demand of private cars and that of GVs when allocating parking resources. (f) Dr Malcolm LAM agreed with other Members and opined that there were deficiencies in the study report in respect of the inference on the future demand for GV parking spaces. He stressed that the manufacturing industry on Hong Kong Island was currently very inactive. The study report’s inference that the demand for GV parking spaces would fall as a result of the gradual shrinkage of the manufacturing industry on Hong Kong Island was therefore illogical. He pointed out that the GVs in Hong Kong were mainly involved in the wholesale and retail sector, many buildings in the C&W District were being redeveloped and the population size would grow gradually. It was therefore unlikely that the demand for GV parking spaces would decrease. (g) Mr WONG Kin-shing said that the number of STT car parks would decrease gradually and the study report also showed that the shortage of GV parking spaces in the C&W District would increase from 30 in the base year to 70 in 2016. He asked the department to explain why the situation would deteriorate. Moreover, he did not think that the TD could designate GV parking spaces in the newly-developed residential buildings, and asked the department to consider providing GV car parks under other flyovers in the district. (h) Mr YIP Wing-shing opined that most GV drivers working in the C&W District would not park their vehicles in the Eastern District simply because GV parking spaces were available there and therefore disagreed that GV parking spaces in the Eastern District could alleviate the shortage in the C&W District. He urged the TD to provide the 50 GV parking spaces proposed in the study report as soon as possible and study the feasibility of providing GV parking spaces at other locations in the C&W District. 9 (i) Mr YIP Kwok-him said that the C&WDC had discussed the problem of insufficient GV parking spaces for many years. He agreed to Dr Malcolm LAM’s analysis and did not understand how the study report drew the conclusion that a balance between the supply and demand of GV parking spaces would be achieved in 2021. (j) The Chairlady said that the conclusion of the study report was contrary to the situation of the C&W District, and opined that the department had a wrong estimation of the future demand for GV parking spaces. She said the study report did not mention that a row of trees at Man Kwong Street had to be relocated for the provision of 29 parking spaces. She believed that the public would strongly oppose the department’s relocation proposal. She suggested that the department allow GVs to park at Man Kwong Street at night only to avoid relocating the row of trees and reducing green space of the district. She was disappointed at the study report and opined that the report could not solve the problem of insufficient GV parking spaces. (k) The Vice-Chairman understood that the C&W District was a developed community where it was difficult for the department to identify suitable sites as GV parking spaces, but he still could not accept the proposal of the provision of 29 GV parking spaces at Man Kwong Street. There was currently the problem of illegal parking. On top of that, more space was required for the parking of GVs than that of private cars. Providing 29 GV parking spaces would only make the street more congested. In addition, he asked the department to give supplementary information on how much green space at Man Kwong Street would disappear under the proposal. 21. Mr CHEUNG Mun-kit, Senior Engineer/Strategic Roads 5 of the TD, said that the study had commenced in late 2009, and that the study period was prolonged because collecting data was time-consuming and the study had to tie in with the changes in the planning and land use of the C&W District. The TD understood the C&WDC’s intention to develop the waterfront promenade. Since there was not much information available at the moment, it would discuss with the relevant departments how to support the development concerned after the meeting. He added that the construction of the car park under the Connaught Road West flyover had commenced in mid-June. It would take around 15 months and was expected to complete in late 2014. The department would expedite the progress of the works as far as possible. He said that the 29 parking spaces at Man Kwong Street would be open for GVs only at night. Members might raise suggestions on the use of the parking spaces in the day-time. The department would also fully study and consider the impact of illegal parking on the traffic nearby before providing parking spaces there. He clarified that a row of palm trees would be transplanted, and the department would make reference to the transplantation experience of the Central – Wan Chai Bypass works and relocate the plants concerned to appropriate places. He said that the department would also study the feasibility of providing GV parking spaces at other locations such as Rock Hill Street and the bus stop near Shun Tak Centre, and would give the TTC a reply after the study was completed. He said that the TD was deliberating with the Planning Department (PlanD) on the provision of more GV parking spaces in the planning of the land use of the western part of Kennedy Town in addition to the provision of 25 parking spaces for light goods vehicles in public housing development projects. 22. Document1 Ms Carmen CHU said that the manufacturing industry could still be found in the 10 Eastern District and Chai Wan, and the decline of the manufacturing industry was only one of the factors leading to the decrease in the demand for GV parking spaces. She reiterated that the consultancy firm had interviewed the drivers and owners of GVs during the study. The industry indicated that the collection and distribution goods would increasingly take place in districts beyond Hong Kong Island, therefore drivers and owners did not have to park GVs in the C&W District, resulting in a decrease in the night-time demand for GV parking spaces. She said that the greater shortfall in the supply of GV parking spaces was a result of the anticipation that STT parking spaces for goods vehicles at New Praya and Sai See Street in Kennedy Town would be cancelled. 23. The Vice-Chairman started the second round of discussion on the paper. and views of Members were as follows: Questions (a) Mr CHAN Hok-fung reiterated that the Working Group on C&W District Harbourfront would take back the GV parking spaces near the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park and the Western Wholesale Food Market for the development of a waterfront promenade, and asked the departments concerned to be prepared in advance. He said that it was impossible to provide 25 GV parking spaces at Ka Wai Man Road which was winding, narrow and steep. He pointed out that the demand for GV parking spaces depended on the district of residence of GV drivers, instead of the district of the industry. (b) Mr KAM Nai-wai pointed out that the department did not respond to the question on the cost of the study, nor did it present concrete statistics to support the claim that the demand for GV parking spaces would fall by 18 %, but not more or less than 18%. (c) Mr Joseph CHAN requested the consultancy firm to present concrete statistics, such as the figures of the interviews, to support the assumption of the decrease in demand for GV parking spaces. He stressed that even if the trees at Man Kwong Street were transplanted successfully, it did not mean that green space in the district would not be reduced. He objected to the provision of GV parking spaces at the expense of green space near the waterfront promenade. (d) Dr Malcolm LAM asked the TD how to assess whether the results of the consultancy firm’s study report were justified. 24. Mr CHEUNG Mun-kit replied that the 25 parking spaces at Ka Wai Man Road would serve light goods vehicles not exceeding seven metres in length. The departments concerned had conducted a feasibility study earlier and the TD would submit the relevant information for Members’ perusal after the meeting. He said that the consultant’s fee of the study was around $1 million, and the study report had been examined by the TD and the relevant departments. He said that the TD would keep the reduction of greenery at Man Kwong Street to a minimum in the detailed design of the night-time GV parking spaces there. He would provide detailed information on the estimation about the 18% decrease in demand for GV parking spaces after the meeting. 25. The Vice-Chairman concluded that many Members were dissatisfied with the contents of the study report, and asked the department to give supplementary information on the statistics and matters of concern to Members after the meeting. The Vice-Chairman thanked the guests for attending the meeting. Document1 11 Item 7: Proposed additional supply of parking space for private cars/vans on hourly and monthly basis in the Kennedy Town Car Park (C&W TTC Paper No. 41/2013) (3:59 pm – 4:24 pm) 26. Mr Fabian CHEUNG, Senior Transport Officer/Transport Facilities Management of the TD, said that the Kennedy Town Car Park provided 195 parking spaces for private cars, vans and taxis. Since its opening in 2007, the distribution of the parking spaces was 150 monthly parking spaces for private cars and vans, 20 monthly parking spaces for taxis and 25 hourly parking spaces for the public every month. He pointed out that there was a keen demand for hourly and monthly parking spaces in the district and the daily utilisation rate of the car park was as high as over 90%. The department also received views from the public from time to time that the hourly parking spaces of the car park were so insufficient that vehicles waiting to enter the car park had to queue up along Rock Hill Street. He pointed out that Members had discussed the arrangement concerning the sales of monthly tickets of the car park in the 6 th and 7th TTC meetings and opined that there was a need to review the proportion of hourly and monthly parking spaces. After reviewing the utilisation of hourly and monthly parking spaces in the car park, the TD proposed to cancel the 20 monthly parking spaces for taxis and increase both the number of hourly parking spaces for private cars and monthly parking spaces for vans by 10, i.e. the number of hourly parking spaces would be increased from 25 to 35 and the number of monthly parking spaces, from 150 to 160. Affected taxi owners could still purchase monthly taxi tickets of other car parks under the TD such as the Rumsey Street Car Park. He said that the department was currently consulting the taxi trade and had notified individual users currently using the monthly taxi tickets of the Kennedy Town Car Park. He hoped the proposal could help ease the demand for hourly parking spaces for private cars and monthly parking spaces for vans in the Kennedy Town Car Park. 27. The Vice-Chairman invited Members to discuss the paper. The questions and views of Members were as follows: Document1 (a) Mr CHAN Hok-fung agreed with increasing the number of hourly parking spaces but stressed that the TD had to obtain the consent of the taxi trade before implementing the proposal. He said the public queued up earlier and earlier prior to the sale time of monthly tickets for parking spaces. It was extremely dangerous because the queuing location was adjacent to a MTR works site. He reflected that the ticket-scalping activities of queuing gangs were very rampant. Although the majority of the public preferred to continue to purchase monthly tickets by queuing up, the problem would only become more serious if the department continued to maintain the current monthly ticketing arrangement. (b) Mr CHAN Chit-kwai said that taxis were often still on the move at night and the demand for parking spaces was not large. He supported the department in increasing the number of monthly and hourly parking spaces in the Kennedy Town Car Park. He considered the practice of purchasing monthly tickets by queuing up not desirable and suggested a sale-by-ballot mechanism. (c) Mr KAM Nai-wai proposed the department to designate the additional 20 parking spaces as hourly parking spaces during daytime and convert them to night-time parking spaces to utilise resources flexibly. 12 (d) Mr IP Kwok-him opined that converting the 20 parking spaces for taxis into hourly and monthly parking spaces could help ease the shortage of parking spaces in the Western District. Nevertheless, the TD had to address the problem of ticket scalping activities of some syndicates that queued up by plastic stools. He requested the department to replace the first-come-first-served system with a sale-by-ballot system and to register the car plate numbers of applicants before the ballot. Once registered, no amendment was allowed to ensure fairness. (e) Dr Malcolm LAM welcomed the TD’s proposal of providing more parking spaces for private cars. He said that ticket scalping was rampant in the district and agreed that the selling of monthly tickets should be done by drawing lots with prior registration of car plate numbers. He also requested the Police to step in to curb the unlawful act. (f) Ms Shirley WONG said that as there were signs that the problem of ticket scalping was worsening, she supported to sell parking tickets by a balloting system with prior registration of car plate numbers. In addition, she suggested lengthening the validity of tickets to three or six months to reduce the inconvenience brought about by the balloting system to the public. She said that there were insufficient storeys in government car parks. She suggested the Government should follow the example of Japan to increase the number of storeys in car parks so that more floor area was available for providing parking spaces. (g) Mr YIP Wing-shing stressed that the TD should not solely rely on the Kennedy Road Car Park to cope with the demand for parking spaces of the whole Western District and had to study the feasibility of providing additional parking spaces in other areas of the district. He pointed out that the problem of illegal parking was serious in the Kennedy Town Praya and urged the department to install parking meters there as soon as possible. 28. Mr Fabian CHEUNG reiterated that consultation with the taxi trade was underway and the TD had successfully notified 11 current users of the monthly tickets for taxis of the Kennedy Town Car Park of the new arrangement. They were also informed that there were still sufficient monthly parking spaces for taxis in the nearby Rumsey Street Car Park for the use of taxi owners or the public. Only three of them held dissenting views and the others had no comments. The department would continue to listen to the views of the trade. Moreover, he said that the operator of the car park had already tried to arrange parking of vehicles in the car park during the day-time as far as possible if the actual situation permitted to avoid wasting resources. He added that the proposal would be implemented on 1 August 2013 subject to Members’ support. 29. The Vice-Chairman started the second round of discussion on the paper. Questions and views of Members were as follows: (a) Document1 Mr CHAN Hok-fung understood that TD had started questionnaire surveys concerning the monthly ticket sales method and that most respondents hoped to maintain the current arrangement but he stressed that purchase of tickets by queuing up would only foster ticket scalping. He agreed with Ms Shirley WONG that monthly balloting might cause nuisance to the public and proposed the department to draw lots once every quarter or every six months. Moreover, he requested the Police to take appropriate actions on the matters mentioned by Members to curb 13 syndicated queuing and ticket scalping. (b) Mr IP Kwok-him stressed that the TTC had repeatedly given views concerning the arrangement of monthly ticket sales but the department had yet to take any actions or implement any improvement measures. The department concerned should be held fully responsible in case of accidents. (c) Mr KAM Nai-wai strongly requested the department to replace the monthly ticket sales method with a balloting system and asked the department to consult the TTC again concerning the detailed arrangement of the system before the next meeting. 30. Mr Fabian CHEUNG said that the TD would review the current monthly ticket sales arrangement concurrently while it increased the number of hourly parking spaces for private cars and the number of monthly parking spaces for vans in the Kennedy Car Park. It would report the findings of the review to the TTC as soon as possible. 31. Mr LAU Wing-fu, Officer-in-Charge, District Traffic Team (Western District) of the HKPF, said that the Police would arrange frontline police officers to maintain order while the public queued up and would report the situation to the intelligence section and the anti-trial squad of the Western District for follow-up. 32. The Vice-Chairman concluded that the TTC unanimously requested the TD to replace the current monthly ticket sales arrangement with a balloting system and urged the department to provide a work report and timetable. The Vice-Chairman thanked the guests for attending the meeting and invited the Chairlady to chair the discussion of the remaining agenda items. Item 8: Concern over the problem of vehicle-pedestrian conflict on the driveway at the Bird Bridge (C&W TTC Paper No. 32/2013) (4:24 pm – 4:51 pm) 33. Miss SIU Ka-yi supplemented the paper and said that many students of the Lok Sin Tong Leung Kau Kui College and Shing Kung Hui St. Matthew’s Primary School would pass by the Bird Bridge after school. She asked the TD what measures it had in place to let drivers know that entry was allowed only for vehicles not exceeding seven metres in length and to ensure that the contractor avoided using the road section during the peak hours before and after school to safeguard the safety of students. 34. Mr Thomas NG added that the road section was very narrow and there was insufficient room for vehicles to make U-turns at the end of the bridge. He asked how the TD would ensure that heavy vehicles could exit from the road section safely. 35. Ms Kiki YEUNG, Engineer/Special Duties of the TD, said the department understood that the road section was narrow and it was risky for heavy vehicles to use that section. Thus the department had imposed a requirement on the contractor that vehicles exceeding seven metres in length should be denied access to the road section in its application to the Buildings Department (BD) for hoarding permits for the works site. Having considered that many students passed by the road section after school and learned that the contractor had violated the regulation, the department subsequently restricted the contractor’s vehicles to access the works site only during Document1 14 off-peak hours in the morning. She said that the road section was a one-way road with a dead end where heavy vehicles could only exit by reversing. The department had also requested the contractor to arrange staff members to direct the entries and exits of construction vehicles to ensure pedestrians’ safety. 36. Mr CHEUNG Chi-wai, District Operations Officer (Central District) of the HKPF, said that the Police understood Members’ concerns on the road section. He said that the Police would deploy additional frontline officers to inspect the site during the works and try to tie in with the traffic measures arranged by the TD as far as possible. He said the Police would provide the prosecution figures of the road section to the TTC after the meeting. 37. The Chairlady invited Members to discuss the paper. Questions and views of Members were as follows: Document1 (a) Mr KAM Nai-wai was unsatisfied with the replies of the TD and the Police, pointing out that he had earlier written to the Police to express his concerns over the safety issues of the road section, so the Police should have be able to have the prosecution figures ready. He stressed that the bridge was not long and the contractor could still manually transport the construction materials into the works site even if the TD prohibited the access of contractor’s vehicles to the site. He said that the figure in the paper did not show that the contractor did deploy staff members to direct traffic. That would pose a great threat to pedestrians and he requested the TD to prohibit the access of vehicles to the road section immediately. (b) Mr IP Kwok-him opined that drivers of heavy vehicles were putting pedestrians at risk if they exit the bridge by reversing their vehicles. He said that the TD should not allow access of heavy vehicles to the road section unless there was sufficient room for them to make U-turns. He did not accept the current traffic arrangement of the bridge and agreed that vehicular access to the bridge should be prohibited. (c) Miss SIU Ka-yi doubted the TD failed to effectively enforce the requirement that the contractor should not allow access of vehicles exceeding seven metres in length to the works site, should deploy staff members to direct traffic, and should ensure that heavy vehicles did not access the works site during the peak hours before and after school. She pointed out that there was a polyclinic near the bridge and many elderly and pregnant women would pass by the road section, but there were no crossing facilities. She asked the TD to explain how to ensure the safety of pedestrians. (d) Mr Thomas NG doubted that the TD had not conducted any site inspections when it laid down the requirement of restricting the length of vehicles to seven metres or below. It also failed to consider factors such as the width of vehicles and the presence of traffic lights and zebra crossings at the junction. He did not think that the Police was responsible to direct traffic for the contractor. (e) Mr LI Po-ming agreed that vehicular access to the road section should be prohibited. The department should put top priority on human’s life when issuing permits. He opined that there was no need for the Police to prepare prosecution figures in response to Members’ request every time before the meeting and should initiate prosecutions according to the actual situation. (f) Mr CHAN Hok-fung agreed with the prohibition of vehicular access to the road section. He pointed out that construction vehicles were also not used in the works 15 site of the buildings on Sands Street. Likewise, the construction works at the Bird Bridge should not be affected if vehicles were denied access to the works site. 38. Ms Kiki YEUNG said that the TD had all along been communicating closely with the BD and the contractor and would discuss how the contractor could safeguard the safety of pedestrians during the works. She added that if vehicular access to the road was completely banned, inconvenience would be caused to people who went to the nearby polyclinic by taxis or private cars. 39. The Chairlady started the second round of discussion on the paper. of Members were as follows: Questions and views (a) Mr CHAN Hok-fung reiterated that the TD should give priority to pedestrians’ safety and prohibit vehicular access to the road section immediately. There was no need for the TD to consider how the contractor could carry out the remaining works. (b) Miss SIU Ka-yi said that as the TTC had agreed to prohibit vehicular access to the bridge on safety grounds, the TD should relay the proposal to the BD and the contractor immediately and no further discussion was needed. (c) Mr KAM Nai-wai stressed that the TD should prohibit access of heavy vehicles to the bridge and should not issue any special permits to construction vehicles of the contractor. He opined that to prevent the fatal accident in Po Hing Fong involving reversing vehicles from recurring, the TD should implement the arrangement immediately and that there was no need to further discuss with the BD and the contractor. He said that the Police had been asked about the prosecution figures of illegal parking at the bridge in the discussion paper and urged representatives from the Police to make sufficient preparation for Members’ questions before the meeting. (d) Ms Shirley WONG said that she had studied in the Lok Sin Tong Leung Kau Kui College before and agreed that many students would pass by the bridge after school. She was very worried that students would be knocked down by heavy vehicles. She said that the TD should not mislead Members because people taking taxis or private cars to the clinic could alight at Hospital Road. She strongly supported a total ban on vehicular access to the bridge. (e) The Chairlady said that the bridge was designed to be a footway which should be used by pedestrians instead of being occupied by vehicles. (f) Mr MAN Chi-wah said the TD should note that heavy vehicles had to drive onto the pavement if they had to access the bridge. Moreover, he warned the TD that it should not close one of the traffic lanes for the contractor to carry out construction works if vehicular access to the road section was prohibited. 40. Ms Kiki YEUNG said that the TD would discuss with the Lands Department and the polyclinic concerning the prohibition of vehicular access to the bridge and would review the current traffic arrangement of the bridge immediately. 41. Mr CHEUNG Chi-wai added that the Police welcomed and supported any improvement measures, including the prohibition of vehicular access to the bridge. He said that the Police had misunderstood question 4 in the paper. He undertook that the Police would closely monitor Document1 16 the traffic conditions of the location in question, initiate prosecutions against any non-compliance and provide the relevant prosecution figures after the meeting. 42. The Chairlady thanked the guests for attending the meeting. Item 9: Strong concern over an unilateral announcement made by a green minibus operator for cancellation of four green minibus route nos. 10, 10X, 11 and 31 currently serving the Mid-levels and Southern District with effect from July 2013 (C&W TTC Paper No. 33/2013) Proposed service optimisation of green minibus route nos. 10, 11and 31 on Hong Kong Island (C&W TTC Paper No. 40/2013) (4:51 pm – 5:24 pm) 43. The Chairlady said that paper No.33/2013 had been submitted in January 2013, but was not discussed until the 9th meeting due to the heavy agenda of the TTC. Meanwhile, the minibus operator had withdrawn its decision to cancel the service and the TD had proposed measures to enhance the service of the routes. The proposal had been set out in paper No. 40/2013. She invited the representative of the department to present the optimised proposal. 44. Miss Yvonne TSUI, Senior Transport Officer/Central and Western of the TD, briefed Members on the optimised proposal, including: (a) To re-route Hong Kong Island Green Minibus (GMB) routes 10 and 10P to Lockhart Road instead of Hennessy Road; (b) To amalgamate GMB route 11 with route 31 given that the average daily occupancy rate of route 11 was not high; and (c) To re-route GMB route 31 to Lockhart Road instead of Hennessy Road and to advance its last departure time after route amalgamation. 45. The Chairlady invited Members to discuss the paper. Members were as follows: Document1 Questions and views of (a) Miss SIU Ka-yi said that she had monitored the minibus services at Caine Road and Bonham Road and found that passengers waiting at Caine Road and Bonham Road could not get on the bus during the morning peak hours. However, the TD’s proposal suggested diverting routes 10 and 10P away from Caine Road and Bonham Road. She doubted that the TD did not assess the impact of the proposal on nearby residents. In addition, she strongly opposed to the TD’s deployment of minibuses originally plying between Caine Road and Bonham Road for the introduction of new services. She considered the assumption that “as passengers could take route 31X to travel between Pok Fu Lam and Causeway Bay, more room of route 31 could be left for passengers in the West Mid-levels” to be valid only if the TD did not deploy minibuses originally plying between Caine Road and Bonham Road to run other routes. (b) Mr Jackie CHEUNG shared Miss SIU Ka-yi’s view and considered that the 17 proposal of suspending the service of GMB routes 10 and 10P plying between Caine Road and Bonham Road had completely ignored the transport demand of East Mid-levels residents. He said that many residents of the Southern District would take route 31 to Central. Hence, the TD’s assumption that passengers at the Southern District would choose to take route 31X so that room of route 31 would be freed up was not valid. He enquired about the current number of minibuses for routes 11 and 31 as well as the number of minibuses for routes 31 and 31X after implementing the proposal. (c) Mr WONG Kin-shing opined that it was irresponsible for the GMB operator to unilaterally cancel the service of four GMB routes and then withdraw the decision. He doubted that the GMB operator made use of such an act to coerce the TD to approve its fare increase application. Furthermore, he pointed out that the TD would only suggest fare increase, amalgamation of routes, re-routing and service suspension in response to GMB operators’ complaints about loss-making routes. It never considered the service quality of GMB operators and conducted a re-tender exercise of the service. He mentioned that the attitude of drivers of GMB routes 12 and 13 was poor and doubted that the TD did not have a proper mechanism to monitor the GMB services. (d) Mr KAM Nai-wai enquired whether the TD had issued warnings to the GMB operator for the unilateral cancellation of the service and the subsequent withdrawal of the decision. Furthermore, he asked the TD when the franchise of the GMB operator would terminate and whether an open tender would be carried out for GMB services upon the termination. (e) The Chairlady enquired the TD whether the frequency of route 10 would be increased to ensure the provision of satisfactory transport services along Bonham Road and Caine Road subsequent to the cancellation of route 10X. In addition, she worried that the traffic of Hennessy Road would become very heavy after the implementation of the optimised proposal as there were already many buses running on the road. She also enquired about the operating hours of the overnight service of route N31. 46. Miss Yvonne TSUI said the TD understood that passengers had a keen demand for GMB services during peak hours, but the carrying capacity of the minibuses was limited. Apart from taking minibuses, passengers at Caine Road and Bonham Road could also take Citybus (CTB) 40M to Central/Wan Chai. According to a service survey conducted by the TD, the occupancy rate of CTB 40M was about 80% during peak hours. She would submit the information on the distribution of minibuses after the implementation of the optimised proposal to Members for information after the meeting. She added that the GMB operator had proposed rationalising GMB routes in August 2012, including the introduction of route 10P as proposed at the current meeting. She said that the overnight route N31 departed every 20/30 minutes from Tin Wan Estate between 11:20 pm to 12:10 am and from Jaffe Road in Causeway Bay between 12:00 midnight to 1:00 am. She had noted Members’ views and would relay the views to the relevant unit of the TD for follow-up and then provide a written reply to Members after the meeting. 47. The Chairlady was disappointed at the TD’s reply and started the second round of discussion. Questions and views of Members were as follows: Document1 18 (a) Mr KAM Nai-wai was disappointed that the representative of the TD failed to answer Members’ questions and urged the TD to send appropriate representatives to attend the meeting. (b) Mr Jackie CHEUNG pointed out that Miss Yvonne TSUI had not answered his question. (c) Miss SIU Ka-yi pointed out that Miss Yvonne TSUI had not answered her question. Besides, understanding that the occupancy rate of 40M was more than 80% during peak hours, she indicated that the data provided by the TD were inaccurate. 48. Miss Yvonne TSUI said that the daytime service of route 31 would remain unchanged under the optimised proposal. The first minibus from Tin Wan Estate to Causeway Bay would depart at 6:30 am and the last one at 11:20 pm. The first minibus from Jaffe Road in Causeway Bay to Tin Wan Estate would depart at 6:00 am and the last at 11:59 pm. The overnight route N31 would run every 20/30 minutes and depart from Tin Wan Estate between 11:20 pm and 12:10 am, and from Jaffe Road in Causeway Bay between 12:00 midnight and 1:00 am. Route 31X would be operated at a headway of 30 minutes. The main amendment to route 10 lay in its routeing, while the headway would remain at 7 to 10 minutes. Regarding the service of CTB 40M, the TD would continue to monitor the passenger demand and make appropriate adjustment in response to passenger needs. 49. Miss SIU Ka-yi asked the TD to confirm whether the number of minibuses serving the area in the vicinity of Bonham Road and Caine Road would remain unchanged. She also requested the TD to ensure that the GMB operator would not allocate minibuses resources of the Mid-levels to other routes. 50. Mr Jackie CHEUNG asked the TD to explain whether the GMB operator would deploy all minibuses from route 11 to the newly-operated route 31X if the service of route 31 remained unchanged. He reiterated that Mid-levels residents often could not get on minibuses as they were fully loaded. He urged the TD to consider deploying empty minibuses to en route minibus stands at the Mid-levels to pick up passengers and providing stands in Central for routes 10P and 31X, so that passengers at the Southern District heading for Central did not have to take route 31. 51. The Chairlady opined that Members had various concerns about the optimised proposal and hoped that the TD could postpone implementing the proposal. 52. Mr CHAN Choi-hi hoped that GMB operators could follow bus companies’ practice to propose an annual route development programme for minibuses, so that Members could talk directly with the GMB operators. 53. Miss Yvonne TSUI said that as set out in the paper for service optimisation, the proposed frequency for routes 10 and 10P would remain unchanged. The TD would also make timely adjustments to the implementation date taking into account DCs’ views on the proposal. Regarding the proposed provision of stands in Central for routes 10P and 31X, she said that the TD had to study whether there were suitable locations en route. She undertook to relay Members’ views on the occupancy rate of 40M during peak hours and the proposed service optimisation of GMB routes 10, 11 and 31 to relevant departments. Members’ views could then be taken into account when the departments concerned and the GMB operator refined the optimised proposal. Document1 19 54. In closing, the Chairlady requested the TD to provide additional information after the meeting and postpone implementing the optimised proposal. The Chairlady thanked the guest for attending the meeting. Item 10: Strong request for frequency increase in the service of green minibus route no. 58 and additional provision of special departures from Cyberport for the concerned green minibus routes during the commuting hours in the afternoon (C&W TTC Paper No. 34/2013) (5:24 pm – 5:32 pm) 55. The Chairlady invited Members to discuss the paper. Mr CHAN Hok-fung was disappointed at the TD’s reply and pointed out that there was a strong demand for GMB routes 58 and 59 as residents mainly took them to travel between Sai Wan and the Southern District. During the evening peak hours, minibuses would often become fully loaded when arriving at Cyberport and passengers had to wait for a long time. She opined that the TD should not use the data collected in only one day and ignore residents’ requests. She urged the TD to allocate resources of route 59 to route 58 during the evening peak hours to help clearing waiting passengers at Cyberport. 56. Miss Yvonne TSUI, Senior Transport Officer/Central and Western of the TD, said that the TD had deployed staff members to conduct a survey on the service standard of GMB route 58 heading for Kennedy Town at stands at the Arcade of Cyberport and Sandy Bay Road on 10 May 2013. She pointed out that the overall frequency of the route concerned was higher than the requirement stipulated in the schedule of service. The average occupancy rates at the two stands were 81% and 98% respectively. Only one passenger could not get on the minibus as it was full. She said that the TD had approved more than 20 employees’ buses in the light of the actual circumstances for the convenience of office workers at Cyberport and institutions on Sandy Bay Road. The TD would also remain vigilant on passenger demand for various public transport services. 57. Mr CHAN Hok-fung reiterated that the TD could not make conclusions simply from the survey data of GMB services of one day. He pointed out that the destination of most employees’ buses was Central instead of Sai Wan and that visitors to MacLehose Medical Rehabilitation Centre and students attending international schools nearby could not use employees’ service. He requested the TD to conduct surveys on the route concerned on a long term basis and study the feasibility of deploying minibuses from route 59 to route 58. 58. Miss Yvonne TSUI said that the TD had proposed implementing route rationalisation for GMB routes 58, 58A and 59 in 2011, but the C&WDC Members opposed the proposal. Nevertheless, she undertook to relay Members’ views to relevant departments for follow-up. 59. Mr CHAN Hok-fung stressed that the C&WDC Members only opposed the proposal of cancelling the GMB route 59 in 2011. He now proposed allocating resources from route 59 to route 58 during off-peak hours so as to enhance the service, which was different from the previous proposal. 60. Miss Yvonne TSUI said that the TD would further study the service of GMB routes 58, 58A and 59. Document1 20 61. The Chairlady thanked the guest for attending the meeting. Item 11: Proposed relocation of a green minibus stand of route no. 45A from First Street to Second Street near Western Street (C&W TTC Paper No. 35/2013) (5:32 pm – 5:42 pm) 62. The Chairlady invited Members to discuss the paper. Mr Sidney LEE was disappointed that the TD did not accept Members’ suggestions. He also found it unacceptable that there were more than 30 passengers waiting at the stand as high as six times a day. He pointed out that waiting passengers had to queue up from First Street to Second Street, which would not only obstruct the access of other pedestrians to Central Street Market, but also endanger waiting passengers. He said that the proposed relocation of the GMB stand of route 45A to Second Street near Western Street would have minimal impact on routeing. Furthermore, the future exit of MTR station leading to First Street and Second Street would be the same, so it did not make any difference for the public to go to First Street or Second Street. 63. Miss Yvonne TSUI, Senior Transport Officer/Central and Western of the TD, said that the terminus of GMB route 45A was currently located outside Central Street Market, which would not obstruct vehicles at the offside traffic lane. On the other hand, the pedestrian walkway outside Second Street Public Bathhouse was narrower, which was not an ideal place for passengers to queue for the minibus. If the pedestrian walkway was widened, the carriageway would be narrowed. As a result, the minibus pulling off the road would obstruct other vehicles. In addition, if the minibus terminus was moved to Second Street, passengers coming from First Street and Queen’s Road West had to climb the slope or stairs at Central Street to go to the corner of Second Street first, then walk along the gently sloping Second Street before reaching the Public Bathhouse. Some passengers, such as the elderly and children, might find it inconvenient. According to a recent TD’s survey on GMB services conducted at the terminus of First Street, there were six occurrences where more than 30 passengers were waiting and each occurrence lasted for four to nine minutes during the morning and evening peak hours. The actual impact on First Street was expected to be minimal. 64. Mr KAM Nai-wai considered that the stand at First Street was more conveniently located than its original location outside the PARKnSHOP. He urged the TD to review the impact of entrances/exits of the future MTR stations on pedestrian flows in the vicinity before it made a decision on whether to move the stand to Second Street. 65. Miss Yvonne TSUI said that the stand of GMB route 45A would be relocated to its original location outside PARKnSHOP upon completion of the MTR works. 66. Mr Sidney LEE added that the stand was currently located at the entrance of Central Street Market, and the exits of Sai Ying Pun Market and Central Street Market were at Second Street. Moving the stand to Second Street would be more convenient to shoppers coming out from Sai Ying Pun Market and Central Street Market. He agreed that the TD should assess the impact of entrances/exits of the future MTR stations on nearby traffic. Given that the MTR works at First Street was in full swing, he enquired whether the TD could move the stand from First Street to Second Street on a trial basis so as to reduce the burden on First Street. Document1 21 67. Miss Yvonne TSUI reiterated that there was limited space at the carriageway outside Second Street Public Bathhouse. Minibuses waiting for passengers at Second Street would block the way of vehicles behind them. In addition, the pedestrian walkway outside Second Street Public Bathhouse was narrower where passengers had to queue up next to the wall. Hence, the TD did not find it desirable to relocate the stand to Second Street. 68. Mr Sidney LEE added that there had been prolonged parking of large GVs at the carriageway outside Second Street Public Bathhouse, but other large vehicles were still able to run through Second Street by using the adjacent traffic lane. On the contrary, the carriageway at First Street could only accommodate two minibuses. The third minibus had to park on a steep slope and wait. 69. The Chairlady thanked the guest for attending the meeting. Item 12: Proposals regarding improvement of MTR services (C&W TTC Paper No. 36/2013) (5:42 pm – 5:50 pm) 70. The Chairlady said that the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) refused to send representatives to the meeting notwithstanding repeated invitations by the Secretariat. 71. Mr CHAN Choi-hi was deeply dissatisfied at the MTRCL’s refusal to send representatives to the meeting and considered that it did not respect the C&WDC. He suggested that the MTRCL should consider providing new “MTR Fare Savers” in the Western District after the commissioning of the West Island Line in 2014. In addition, he thought that 231 platform seats were not enough to cope with the demand and thus requested the provision of more seats on the platforms. In the light that the existing signage for toilets in MTR stations was too small and commuters had no idea how to have access to the staff toilets, he requested that such signage be improved. He stressed that designated female-only compartments should be introduced and thought that male passengers who had got on the compartment would eventually get off due to public pressure. He also urged the MTRCL to consider lending umbrellas to passengers on rainy days and growing real plants to green up the stations by making reference to subway stations in Guangzhou and Taiwan respectively. 72. The Vice-Chairman agreed that the TTC’s dissatisfaction should be relayed to the MTRCL in writing. He highlighted that quite a number of entrances/exits of Hong Kong and Central MTR Stations were connected to shopping malls. There was however a lack of clear signage in the malls indicating whether a lift or a stairlift was available at the entrances/exits. He suggested the early installation of such signage to facilitate wheelchair passengers and those who had difficulties in using escalators to take the MTR. 73. Mr KAM Nai-wai considered that the TTC should handle MTRCL’s refusal to attend the meeting in a serious manner and requested District Officer (Central and Western) to urge the relevant departments and organisations to send representatives to TTC meetings accordingly to answer Members’ enquiries. He further requested the Secretariat to relay TTC’s dissatisfaction to the MTRCL in writing. Document1 22 74. The Chairlady requested the Secretariat to send the MTRCL a copy of the minutes for its follow-up and write to the company conveying the TTC’s comments after the meeting. The Chairlady thanked the guest for attending the meeting. Item 13: Concern over the impact of hotels in the district on the traffic nearby (C&W TTC Paper No. 37/2013) (5:50 pm – 6:15 pm) 75. The Chairlady invited Members to discuss the paper. comments were as follows: Members’ enquiries and (a) Mr CHAN Hok-fung pointed out that the number of hotels in the C&W District was growing. Although the hotels had reserved space for car parks during planning, many of them did not fully utilise their car parks upon completion. As a result, coaches and Airport Express shuttle buses parked illegally on the streets and blocked traffic while visitors jaywalked after getting off and posed great danger. He opined that the departments concerned should strictly monitor whether hotels had used the available transport facilities. (b) Mr Sidney LEE shared Mr CHAN Hok-fung’s views. He pointed out that Best Western Hotel Harbour View had been abusing a lay-by as its lobby for a prolonged period and visitors had to get off in the middle of the road and then walk to the hotel. The TD’s proposal to extend the time period of the no-stopping restriction zone opposite to the hotel would only make coaches pick up and drop off passengers in the middle of the road. 76. Ms Kiki YEUNG, Engineer/Special Duties of the TD, said that the TD had already liaised with Best Western Hotel Harbour View and the BD. The bollards fronting the hotel had been removed and its car park was open for use by coaches. The bus stop of Airport Express shuttle bus Route No. H1 would also be relocated westward to the lay-by ahead to prevent the shuttle buses from picking up and dropping off passengers at the junction of Queen’s Road West and Eastern Street. 77. Mr CHAN Kun, District Operations Officer (Western District) (Atg) of the HKPF, said that he had nothing to add on behalf of the Police. 78. The Chairlady started the second round of discussion on the paper. enquiries and comments were as follows: (a) Document1 Members’ Mr CHAN Hok-fung considered that the departments concerned should monitor and mandate the use of car parks by hotels. He asked the Police about the reason for not mandating coaches pick up and drop off passengers in the car parks of hotels. He suggested writing to the BD and requesting the department to explain whether more floor area would be approved if facilities such as car parks were added to the design of the hotels during planning, and submit a breakdown of the number of pick-up/drop-off spaces and parking spaces by hotels in the district, so that the departments concerned and DC Members could monitor the utilisation of such transport facilities. He also suggested informing the Town Planning Board 23 (TPB) in writing that some hotels did not follow the predetermined traffic arrangements upon their completion. (b) Mr KAM Nai-wai thought that the department concerned did not give full consideration to local traffic conditions in issuing licences to hotels and guesthouses. The Police had also failed to enforce the requirement that coaches must pick up and drop off passengers only inside the car parks of hotels. As a result, local residents had to suffer considerable disturbance. He supported requesting the TD, BD and PlanD to provide a breakdown of the number and area of pick-up/drop-off spaces and loading/unloading spaces by hotels in the area of Sheung Wan and Sai Wan for the enforcement actions of the relevant departments. (c) Mr Sidney LEE did not understand why the Police had not instituted any prosecutions against coaches which picked up or dropped off passengers in the middle of the road. He also questioned whether hotel developers had cheated bodies such as the TPB out of more developable area by adding facilities such as car parks to the design of the hotels during planning. (d) Mr IP Kwok-him opined that the Police should institute prosecutions against coach drivers instead of visitors. He further requested the Police to provide the number of prosecutions of such a nature. (e) Mr YIP Wing-shing considered that the TD and the HKPF should be responsible to request hotels to make their car parks available for the use of coaches. He stressed that Members did not mean to smother local tourism, but given that the irregularities of the hotel industry had seriously affected residents’ livelihood and visitors’ safety, it was necessary for the departments concerned to issue warnings to such hotels. (f) Mr CHAN Choi-hi supported obtaining from the departments concerned a breakdown of pick-up/drop-off spaces and loading/unloading spaces by hotels and suggested writing to the Hong Kong Hotels Association to reflect the TTC’s concern to the industry. (g) Mr CHAN Chit-kwai believed that the BD had taken into account ancillary transport facilities when vetting and approving hotel layout plans. Hotels should open and use their transport facilities in accordance with the plans submitted to the BD. (h) Mr Joseph CHAN stated that a hotel development project on Lugard Road, the Peak was being considered by the TPB. Since that section of the road was a footpath where there were thousands of walkers every day, the site was certainly not suitable for hotel development. 79. Mr LAU Wing-fu, Officer-in-charge, District Traffic Team (Western District) of the HKPF, clarified that the reply to Question 2 in Annex IV should be “The Police is unable to mandate that coaches go inside car parks in hotels for pick-up and drop-off.” Hotels took up the management of their car parks and could decide which vehicles were allowed to park there. He stressed that if the Police found any coaches picking up or dropping off passengers in the middle of the road, the driver would be prosecuted for disregarding passenger safety. Document1 24 The Police would also strengthen patrols and randomly conduct anti-jaywalking operations at that location. 80. Mr CHAN Kun said the Police would encourage the hotel industry, through the Police Community Relations Offices, to use the car parks or transport facilities in hotels for pick-up and drop-off as far as practicable. He reiterated that the Police would prosecute coach drivers who picked up or dropped off passengers in the middle of the road and request tourist guides to educate visitors about the correct way of crossing the road. 81. Miss Shirley LEUNG, Engineer/Central and Western 3 of the TD, replied that the TD would closely monitor the traffic conditions in the vicinity of hotels and consider designating new no-stopping restriction zones at appropriate locations where necessary. 82. Mr WAI Hon-kwok, Principal Technical Officer (Traffic)/Southern and Peak of the TD, said that all vehicles, except those with permit, were prohibited from entering Lugard Road. During the consultation on the change of land use, the TD had clearly stated that the site concerned on Lugard Road was, from the perspective of traffic management, not suitable for hotel development. 83. In closing, the Chairlady requested the TD and the BD to submit a breakdown of pick-up/drop-off spaces by hotels in the area of Sheung Wan and Sai Wan. She also requested the Police to relay Members’ concern to the hotel industry and tourist guides unions. The Chairlady thanked the guests for attending the meeting. Item 14: Concern over the use of pedestrian crossing facilities by and guidelines on road safety for the elderly (C&W TTC Paper No. 38/2013) (6:15 pm – 6:30 pm) 84. Pursuant to article 15(1) of the C&WDC Standing Orders, the Chairlady specially invited Ms YUNG Kam-chun, member of a working group on elderly-friendly measures in the C&W District (the Working Group), to present the paper. 85. Ms YUNG Kam-chun thanked Members for their support for the Working Group and their care for the elderly’s needs. The year before, the Working Group had re-written the guidelines on provision of transport services for the elderly and proposed more than 60 improvements to the design of roads, buses, railways, stations, piers, etc. Members could refer to the report on the guidelines on the provision of elderly-friendly transport services for details. She stressed that the Government should enact legislation to require all public transport operators (PTOs) to follow the guidelines so that the improvement proposals could be fully adopted. 86. The Chairman invited Members to discuss the paper. comments were as follows: (a) Document1 Members’ enquiries and Mr CHAN Chit-kwai thanked the Working Group for sending a representative to the meeting and inviting Members to attend the community forum held on Hollywood Road. Although some proposals might not be feasible due to 25 geographical constraints, given the seriousness of the problem of ageing population in Hong Kong, government departments and PTOs should continue to actively promote an elderly-friendly culture. (b) Miss SIU Ka-yi considered it worthwhile for government departments and PTOs to make reference to the guidelines. She hoped that PTOs, though quite a number of them simply gave general replies, could consider the actual situation of ageing population and provide elderly-friendly facilities such as adequate toilets and seats in new MTR stations for use by the elderly. (c) Mr Sidney LEE questioned the validity of the study conducted by the TD given that places such as Taiwan and Guangdong Province had progressively added countdown devices to traffic lights. He pointed out that many elderly persons had overestimated the duration of the “green man” signal and were stuck in the middle of the road when the traffic light suddenly showed a “red man”. He therefore proposed the addition of countdown devices to traffic lights so that the elderly could decide whether they should cross the road. He also proposed that the TD conduct a further study to evaluate whether the addition of countdown devices to traffic lights could enhance road safety. (d) Mr KAM Nai-wai said that because of the growing population of the elderly and the transport fare concession for the elderly, more and more elderly persons would take public buses. Therefore, he urged the TD and bus companies to consider providing more priority seats on buses. (e) Mr MAN Chi-wah encouraged government departments and PTOs to consider the elderly’s needs from their point of view and actively promote an elderly-friendly culture. (f) Mr CHAN Choi-hi suggested that the TTC should relay Members’ comments in writing to the Transport and Housing Bureau (THB). He also urged the departments concerned to introduce legislation to ensure the implementation of elderly-friendly measures in transport services. 87. Ms Penny CHUNG, Public Affairs Officer of Citybus Limited/New World First Bus Services Limited, said that the two companies had been, in collaboration with the Working Group, improving the design of bus compartments and building an elderly-friendly environment in the past few years. The two companies had taken note of Members’ views and would actively consider their suggestions taking into account the necessity and feasibility. 88. Mr Francis LOK, Engineer/Central and Western 1 of the TD, said he would relay to his colleagues Members’ views on the addition of countdown devices to traffic lights. 89. The Chairlady requested the Secretariat to write to the THB conveying the TTC’s comments after the meeting and thanked the guests for attending the meeting. Item 15: Serious concern of a disastrous traffic congestion in the north of Hong Kong Island caused by vehicle breakdown at Magazine Gap Road (C&W TTC Paper No. 39/2013) Document1 26 (6:30 pm – 6:50 pm) 90. The Chairlady invited Members to discuss the paper. Members were as follows: Questions and views of (a) Mr Joseph CHAN indicated that a vehicle broke down at Magazine Gap Road on 28 May 2013. As the department failed to clear the scene immediately, the traffic in the Peak Area, the Mid-levels, Central, Admiralty and Causeway Bay was seriously affected and northern Hong Kong Island was nearly paralysed. He asked the government departments concerned whether the prevailing contingency transport arrangements would be reviewed and whether the mechanism was effective enough to handle traffic incidents of such a large scale. In addition, he said that the vehicle involved was a heavy GV of 30 tonnes according to the Police’s reply. He queried that the vehicle had far exceeded the weight limit on Magazine Gap Road. He requested the Police to enhance publicity and take enforcement action against violation vehicles. (b) Mr Alex LEUNG asked the department whether it was legal for heavy GVs of 30 tonnes to travel on the section concerned. He enquired how many police officers were deployed to handle the incident on that day and why a one-lane two-way operation was implemented on Magazine Gap Road, instead of diverting downhill traffic to May Road and Old Peak Road so that more vehicles could go uphill at the same time. In addition, he considered the TD’s contingency mechanism ineffective, otherwise the tailback would not have extended from the Mid-levels to North Point, which nearly paralysed the traffic of northern Hong Kong Island. He suggested the Police and the TD conduct a review on the mechanism. 91. Miss Yvonne TSUI, Senior Transport Officer/Central and Western of the TD, said that upon notification by the Police, the TD’s Emergency Transport Coordination Centre issued a press release to radio stations, television stations, paging and mobile phone companies as soon as possible, informing the public about the traffic news and the temporary service arrangements for the affected public transportation. The information was also uploaded onto the column of Special Traffic News on the TD’s webpage and disseminated to the public through the mobile app GovHK Notifications. 92. Mr CHAN Kwong-ming, Officer-in-Charge District Traffic Team (Central District) of the HKPF, said that as the Police had to direct uphill and downhill traffic at the same time, a one-lane two-way operation was implemented on Magazine Gap Road so that vehicles could continue travelling to May Road, Brewin Path and other places via Magazine Gap Road. 93. Mr CHEUNG Chi-wai, District Operations Officer (Central District) of the HKPF, said that there was a road sign at the junction of Kennedy Road and Cotton Tree Drive, indicating that vehicles of 5.5 tonnes were prohibited from using the road section from 8:00 am to 10:00 am and from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. The vehicle involved was in the road section before 5:00 pm, so the driver did not violate any traffic regulations. He said that the Police had taken immediate action when its mobile patrol car was aware of the incident, and deployed more than 20 police officers to direct traffic in the vicinity. As there were bar tendons on the goods vehicle, it could only be towed away from the scene when the bar tendons were loaded onto another GV. The clearance time was lengthened as a result. 94. The Chairlady started the second round of discussion on the paper. views of Members were as follows: Document1 Questions and 27 (a) Mr IP Kwok-him said that there were large trailers parking on Robinson Road near Raimondi College and he was worried that it was difficult for heavy vehicles to travel on such winding and narrow roads. He opined that the TD should ban heavy vehicles from travelling on such roads at all times. (b) Mr Alex LEUNG asked the Police how to determine the severity of an accident and whether it would take measures other than the established practice in handling traffic accidents depending on the severity of the accident. (c) Mr Joseph CHAN said that he was aware of the incident from an instant message sent by a resident. He urged the Police to notify DC Members of the constituency where the incident occurred if similar incidents recurred so that Members who were familiar with the environment and residents’ habits could give comments on the response measures. He agreed with Mr Alex LEUNG’s suggestion that vehicles should be diverted to travel downhill via May Road and Old Peak Road as downhill traffic at that time was not heavy. He opined that the incident was more than an ordinary traffic incident and that the department should handle it in a flexible manner. In addition, he reflected complaints from many residents that heavy vehicles were often found on Magazine Gap Road during restricted hours. He asked the Police to monitor the situation and step up inspection and prosecution. He also asked the TD to review the weight and length limit of vehicles on the road section. 95. Mr WAI Hon-kwok, Principal Technical Officer (Traffic)/Southern and Peak of the TD, said that the weight limit on Cotton Tree Drive was 5.5 tonnes and a restriction period was also set. The weight limits on Magazine Gap Road and May Road were both three tonnes. Vehicles exceeding three tonnes were prohibited from travelling on the road section unless granted a permit by the TD. He said that the TD would not allow heavy goods vehicles like the one involved in the incident access to the road section. 96. Mr CHEUNG Chi-wai thanked Members for their comments on the Police’s response measures for the incident and would consider Members’ suggestions in the review. He emphasised that some motorists might insist on using their original route and argue with the frontline police officers on the traffic diversion, which would even worsen the problem of traffic congestion. He added that the Police had already notified the public about the traffic incident through its Public Relations Branch on that day. It would enhance its communication with Members in future. He said that the Police would step up inspection and enforcement against heavy GVs travelling in inappropriate places. 97. Mr Philip LAM, Engineer/Central and Western 2 of the TD said that there was no weight limit on the eastbound and westbound Robinson Road. Imposing such a restriction might affect the daily life of Mid-levels residents, so further study was necessary. 98. Mr Joseph CHAN added that there was currently no weight limit on the section of Magazine Gap Road between Garden Road and May Road in off-peak hours and asked the TD to review the arrangement. 99. The Chairlady thanked the guests for attending the meeting. Item 16: Written question - Comments on traffic and transport made by the elderly Document1 28 (C&W TTC Written Question No. 1/2013) (6:50 pm) 100. The Chairlady said that the department had made a written response to the written question of the current meeting and invited Members to note the paper. Item 17: Action checklists on matters arising from the last meeting (C&W TTC Paper No. 26/2013) (6:51 pm) 101. The Committee noted the paper. Item 18: Any other business (6:51 pm) 102. There was no other business. Item 19: Date of the next meeting (6:52 pm) 103. The Chairman announced that the next TTC meeting would be held on 12 September 2013. Paper submission deadline for government departments would be 22 August 2013. Paper submission deadline for Members would be 28 August 2013. 104. The meeting was adjourned at 6:52 pm. The minutes were confirmed on 12 September 2013 Chairlady: Ms CHENG Lai-king Secretary: Miss CHUNG Yeuk-hung Secretariat of the Central and Western District Council September 2013 Document1 29