Editorial | Toll adjustments real test for Hong Kong’s new system

Transport officials must have heaved a sigh of relief following a relatively uneventful roll-out of the new automatic toll payment system at the city’s busiest cross-harbour tunnel this week. The next task is to ensure the extension to the other two cross-harbour tunnels next month will be another smooth ride. The real challenge, however, will only come when the scheme seeking to ease congestion through toll adjustments is fully put to the test later this year.

It is good that the switch to the HKeToll at the tunnel linking Hung Hom and Wan Chai has not caused chaos and confusion. But long queues still emerged during rush hours, with some drivers and bus passengers saying the congestion was apparently more serious than usual. We trust the authorities will continue to monitor the situation closely. The government said about 90 per cent of the vehicles that passed through the tunnel on Sunday were using the e-tag, which means some vehicles have yet to install the device. The need for publicity and enforcement is evident.

Using remote sensors and online payment tools, the electronic autotoll system enables preregistered motorists to drive through paid tunnels and road links without stopping at toll booths. The scheme has since been smoothly implemented in several roads and tunnels, following an abrupt decision early this year to postpone it because of insufficient publicity.

The HK$945 million HKeToll system was meant to speed up road journeys and make Hong Kong a smarter city. It is also pivotal to another soon-to-be-implemented scheme seeking to even out the traffic of the existing cross-harbour tunnels via toll adjustments. Officials have already sought to dampen expectations of a quick improvement in congestion, saying it would take some time to see results.

Commuters probably would not mind waiting longer for improvements. After all, the city has been waiting for nearly two decades as the toll adjustment proposals were repeatedly studied, stalled and revised while waiting for the green light to go ahead. Meanwhile, the city’s vehicle fleet and traffic jams continue to grow. The government must push ahead with the implementation and prove that the measures will pay off.