Electronic road pricing needed to keep traffic moving on Hong Kong’s congested roads, says former transport chief who first pushed scheme more than 30 years ago
- In March 1983, Alan Scott announced plans for pilot scheme on electronic road pricing to fix chaotic traffic problems
- But project faced opposition and full implementation was frozen in December 1985
A former transport chief who made the first attempt more than three decades ago to implement a controversial electronic road pricing scheme in Hong Kong has insisted “unpalatable measures” are needed to keep traffic moving in congested areas and hopes officials in charge of reviving the plan show resolve.
The remarks by Alan Scott, the city’s secretary for transport from 1982 to 1985, come as the government plans to put forward proposals for an electronic road pricing pilot scheme in Central in the first half of this year for consultation.
Electronic road pricing is a traffic management tool to alleviate congestion. Based on a pay-as-you-use principle, motorists are charged when they use certain roads during peak hours.
But the scheme faced opposition from the public, motorists and members of the district boards, the forerunners of district councils. The plan was seen as a ploy to raise revenue from motorists and possibly to intrude on the privacy of individuals by monitoring their movements.
