Untitled - Civic Exchange

More documents

Recommendations

Info

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT IN HONG KONG: DIRECTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES In one-third of the systems surveyed, government met the full cost of rolling stock. In eight of the 15, it met at least two-thirds of costs. Four systems (including the MTR Corporation) purchase new rolling stock entirely from operator-generated funds. However, it is in meeting ongoing O&M costs that operator-generated revenues are most significant worldwide. For eight of the 15 systems in the survey, operator-generated funds cover all O&M costs, while in an additional two systems operator funds meet 80% of costs. Although national and provincial levels of government often provide support to intra-urban passenger railways, local (sub-provincial) government also plays a major role. In three of the systems surveyed, local funding accounted for 100% of government support for urban passenger railway construction and in two others it accounted for more than two-thirds of such support. Further, as one moves from construction costs to purchase of rolling stock and on to operation and maintenance costs, local government grants play an increasing role relative to national and provincial grants. This is highly relevant for the HKSAR, which does not have the normal overlays of local, provincial, and national financing for infrastructure projects. Constraints on rail development in Hong Kong Hong Kong's extremely high population densities and the resulting potential for very high load factors make the self-financing of rail transport through fares somewhat less difficult compared to other cities. However, the Hong Kong government has taken this potential to an inappropriate extreme, which ultimately raises the overall costs of transport in terms of air pollution, noise, and other external impacts associated with having more road travel than would otherwise be the case. An important implication of the government's self-financing requirement for rail is that the MTR Corporation requires an expected daily ridership of 30,000 to 70,000 per day from a proposed rail station in order to justify construction. Among other systems in the urban rail systems survey, the minimum ridership range for construction of a new station was typically 5,000 to 10,000. In other words, compared to their counterparts elsewhere, Hong Kong people have relatively limited access to rail transport. 66 While avoiding direct support for railways might seem positive in "free market" Hong Kong, this policy means that Hong Kong's rail system is limited only to areas of extreme density. Route maps of other major underground systems around the world (including those in other commonly cited "world cities," such as London, Paris, New York, or Tokyo) show a complex set of lines with extensive coverage (see Figures 3.1- 3.5). In contrast, the rail map for Hong Kong (including both the MTR Corporation and KCRC lines) is skeletal - despite the fact that it serves a metropolitan area far denser than that of other "world cities." 67 22 66 Barron, B., Ng, S., and Kwok, V. (2001), Financing Urban Passenger Rail: An International Survey. 67 Rail systems in cities such as London and New York suffer from under-investment and are poorly maintained when compared to Hong Kong's newer rail system, but this should not be confused with the issue of the extensiveness of their networks.
Chapter 3: Road versus Rail - Financing Mass Transit in Hong Kong Figure 3.1 Hong Kong's urban rail system (HKSAR) Source: Figure 3.2 London urban rail system (United Kingdom) Source: 23
Page 2 and 3: Civic Exchange and the Asia Foundat
Page 4 and 5: 7. THE DYNAMICS OF DECISION-MAKING
Page 6 and 7: SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT IN HONG KONG:
Page 22 and 23: ROAD VERSUS RAIL - FINANCING MASS T
Page 44 and 45: CLEANER & MORE EFFICIENT ROAD TRANS
Page 60 and 61: HONG KONG'S FREIGHT TRANSPORT 6 Thi
Page 76 and 77:
THE DYNAMICS OF DECISION-MAKING IN
Page 78 and 79:
SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT IN HONG KONG:
Page 80 and 81:
Page 82 and 83:
Page 84 and 85:
Page 86 and 87:
Page 88 and 89:
Page 90 and 91:
Page 92 and 93:
Page 94 and 95:
SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT FOR HONG KONG
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
APPENDICES Appendix 1 The Environme
Page 100 and 101:
AUTHORS Bill Barron (wbarron@hkucc.
Page 102 and 103:
REFERENCES Airport Authority Hong K
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108:
Civic Exchange Room 601, Hoseinee H
show all

Untitled - Civic Exchange

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?