【News Buddy】三隧私家車收費 首階段「633」制
【原文】下文摘錄自2023年3月23日香港《文匯報》︰
為改善三條過海隧道車流量失衡的問題，行政長官會同行政會議日前通過「三隧分流」收費方案。香港特區政府運輸及物流局公布，首階段在8月2日實施，私家車實施收費「633」制：西隧減至60元、紅隧及東隧統一增至30元；今年底前的第二階段則實施按時段收費制度，私家車繁忙時段使用西隧維持60元，紅隧及東隧則再增至40元；非繁忙時段，三隧則劃一為20元。運輸署期望分流後的車龍，紅隧縮短1至1.5公里，東隧縮短0.5公里。但專家指出三隧已飽和，調整收費治標不治本，建議研究全面使用電子收費系統、是否加建過海隧道或跨海大橋。
目前紅隧是三條過海隧道中收費最低的，加上地理位置方便，不少駕駛者都選用紅隧。根據運輸及物流局的數據，2021年每日早上繁忙時間西隧、紅隧及東隧的平均車龍分別是0.1公里、2.6公里及1.7公里。
隨着特區政府8月1日收回西隧專營權，締造契機讓政府解決失衡問題。其中，私家車數量佔三隧車龍超過五成，故今次分流方案較集中調整私家車收費。運輸及物流局局長林世雄在記者會上公布，8月2日起實施首階段分流方案，屆時不分時段，私家車使用西隧的收費由目前75元減至60元，紅隧和東隧則加價至30元，以吸引部分駕駛者轉用西隧。的士使用三隧全日劃一25元，其他車種收費維持不變。
今年底前實施第二階段不同時段不同收費方案，周一至周六每日劃分三種時段收費，早上和傍晚的繁忙時段（上午7時許至10時15分，及下午4時許至晚上7時），私家車西隧收費維持60元，紅隧、東隧則再加至40元。一般時段及非繁忙時段，三隧則分別劃一收取30元及20元。為免駕駛者為慳隧道費刻意加速「搶閘」或減速「塞閘」，由一個時段過渡到另一時段之間，隧道費每兩分鐘增加或減少2元。
至於商業車種的三隧收費，則不論日子、時段，的士一律徵收25元，小巴貨車等則劃一收取50元。
浸會大學會計、經濟及金融學系副教授麥萃才接受香港文匯報訪問時指出，目前三隧收費懸殊，是車流失衡主因之一，但根本性問題是三隧都已飽和。
Private Car Toll for Three Tunnels: First Stage "633"
【譯文】To improve the imbalance of the traffic flow of the three cross-harbour tunnels, the Chief Executive-in-Council has recently approved the "three tunnels diversion" toll proposal. The Transport and Logistics Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government announced that the first phase would be implemented on August 2, under which the "633" toll system will be implemented for private cars: Western Harbour Crossing (WHC) will be reduced to $60, while Cross Harbour Tunnel (CHT) and Eastern Harbour Crossing (EHC) will be increased to $30; the second phase will be implemented by the end of this year, under which private cars will be charged $60 at WHC and $40 at CHT and EHC during peak hours, while the tolls at the three tunnels will be unified at $20 during non-peak hours. The Transport Department expects the traffic queues to be shortened by 1 to 1.5 kilometres at the CHT and 0.5 kilometres at the EHC after the traffic diversion. However, experts pointed out that the three tunnels have been saturated, adjusting the tolls to treat the symptoms but not the root cause, suggesting using an electronic toll collection system, whether to build additional cross-harbour tunnels or cross-harbour bridges.
Currently, the CHT is the lowest toll among the three cross-harbour tunnels. Coupled with the convenient location, many motorists choose the CHT. According to the Transport and Logistics Bureau, in 2021, the average traffic queues of WHC, CHT and EHC were 0.1 km, 2.6 km and 1.7 km, respectively, in the morning peak hours.
With the SAR government's August 1 franchise resumption of the Western Harbour Crossing, an opportunity has been created for the government to address the imbalance. The number of private cars accounts for more than 50% of the traffic queues at the three tunnels, so the current traffic diversion proposal is more focused on adjusting the tolls of private cars. The Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Lam Sai-hung, announced at a press conference that the first phase of the traffic diversion scheme would be implemented on August 2, when the tolls for private cars using WHC will be reduced from the current $75 to $60, while the tolls of CHT and EHC will be increased to $30, to attract some motorists to switch to WHC. Taxi using the three tunnels will have a flat toll of $25 for the whole day, while the tolls for other vehicle types will remain unchanged.
By the end of this year, the second phase of different tolls for different periods will be implemented. From Monday to Saturday, the tolls will be divided into three daily periods: during the morning and evening peak periods (7:00 am-10:15 am and 4:00 pm-7:00 pm), the WHC toll for private cars will remain at $60, while the tolls for CHT and EHC will be increased to $40. During regular and off-peak hours, the three tunnels will charge $30 and $20, respectively. To prevent motorists from speeding up or slowing down to save on tolls, the toll will be increased or decreased by $2 every two minutes from one period to another.
For commercial vehicles, the toll is $25 for taxis and $50 for minibuses and trucks, regardless of the day or time.
In an interview with Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, Baptist University's Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance Associate Professor Mak Sui-choi pointed out that the current disparity in the tolls of the three tunnels is one of the main reasons for the imbalance in traffic flow. Still, the fundamental problem is that all three tunnels have reached their capacity.
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