National policy towards cars: Hong Kong

The Hong Kong transport policy objective is simply, mobility. With this the automobile must conform. A confined land area, difficult to develop, has absorbed excessive immigration and must now service a dynamic entrepreneurial economy.

Transport infrastructure based on major planning studies is created through government capital and is backed by careful legislation, effective administration and private sector participation. The problem is that overall expansion is even faster: widespread urban renewal—roads cannot equally expand; enormous New Territories New Towns—people still want to move in and out so the need for more transport accelerates. Over ten million trips daily are made by 5.5 million people. The answers cannot be more and more private cars: it must be promoting the most effective use of major transport investments, where possible off roads, and the mass carriers on roads. The need to curb congestion by containing escalating car numbers (especially as so far only 17% of households have access to an automobile) led in May 1982 to imposition of severe taxes on ownership. The ultimate and equitable objective is to control usage. Road pricing may be the answer.

In Hong Kong the private cars is part only of a complex strategy including metro, rail, bus, minibus, ferry, taxi and tram. The car cannot take precedence.