Untitled - Civic Exchange

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SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT IN HONG KONG: DIRECTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES the corner" since the 1960s. By the late 1970s, such promises were already beginning to wear thin. 185 Even now, more than two decades later, there have been only modest advances. The high optimism with respect to electric battery vehicles was based on presumed advances in batteries based on something other than lead-acid (e.g., nickel-cadmium, nickel-zinc, sodium-sulfur, lithiumchloride). Of these, only nickel-metal hydride and nickel-cadmium batteries have seen even very limited application. And while there have been some advances in battery storage over the last several decades, lead-acid batteries (basically much larger versions of standard car batteries) still power the overwhelming share of electric battery vehicles as they did in the 1970s. 186 Even today, electric battery vehicles suffer from inconveniently long recharge times and limited range between recharges, regardless of the battery employed. Disposal of used batteries also presents a potential problem if the electric vehicle fleet becomes even moderately large. For a place like Hong Kong, it would be best for the government to keep an eye on electric battery vehicle technology and, more importantly, its application elsewhere. When and if electric battery vehicles prove viable in other urban areas, the government should work with private vehicle fleet operators to offer incentives for local testing. Indeed, in 2001, the Hong Kong government ran a testing program for electric public light buses (PLBs). In this trial, electric battery vehicles with current battery technology were found to have some limitations, including a lengthy recharging period. The exaggerated expectations for electric battery vehicles should serve as a cautionary note on fuel cell vehicles. In the late 1960s and 1970s, a considerable amount of work and large expenditures of research and development funds were devoted to electric battery vehicles. Indeed, the very extent of the literature on the research and development of such vehicles seemed to imply that the needed technological breakthroughs surely must come soon. Today, the literature on fuel cell vehicles may have created the same impression. However, simply applying more money and effort to develop fuel cell or electric battery vehicles is no guarantee that essential advances will be forthcoming. Our motivation for stressing caution with respect to electric battery vehicles and fuel cell vehicles is a fear that waiting for advanced technology may become a means of avoiding more basic changes. By the time we realize that the presumed major technological breakthroughs may not be forthcoming, we will have lost precious years in implementing simpler alternatives that are known to work today. 5.4 Recommendations for making road transport in the HKSAR more sustainable 1. Far better coordination between buses (and PLBs) and rail is urgently needed, including the creation of feeder bus (and feeder PLB) routes between rail stations and high-density developments. 2. Although the HKSAR has high rates of bus ridership, there is much more that could be done to improve load factors, including an assessment of the extent to which electronic road pricing (ERP) could facilitate use of high occupancy public transport and discourage companies from putting empty buses on the road in highly congested areas. 54 185 Barron, W., Crawford, E., and Weinberg, M. (1978), The Outlook for Alternative Fuel Supplies and Vehicle Engines, 1985-2010; Implications for Transportation and State Tax Structures, Baltimore: Center for Metropolitan Planning and Research, The Johns Hopkins University. 186 Transport Department (1999), Third Comprehensive Transport Study: Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment.
Chapter 5: Cleaner & More Efficient Road Transport 3. The Transport Department should re-evaluate its negative assessment of electric trolley buses and modern trams. A feasibility study for trolley buses and trams should be re-done, but the terms of reference for consultants should be drawn up after review by experts outside government. • This study should seek to identify those specific routes where flexibility in re-routing electric trolley buses or trams is not a priority, where load factors are likely to be high enough to warrant the added investment in infrastructure (e.g., power lines), and where the local air quality or noise situation is truly pressing. The study should also look at options for limiting the use of diesel buses along tram or trolley bus lines and consider the most appropriate financing arrangements for modern trams and trolley buses compared to that for diesel bus routes. • Further, introduction of electric trolley buses or modern trams should be a major transport priority in new development areas. 4. As discussed in Chapter 7, it seems likely that ERP was evaluated in such a manner (with regard to the types of vehicles potentially affected by ERP) as to largely pre-determine the findings of the study, or at least those sections of the study that have been made public. ERP should be the subject of a new study in which the consultants' brief has first been reviewed by independent experts outside government, as with the assessment of electric trolley buses and trams. 5. Until ERP is implemented inclusive of goods vehicles, goods vehicles should be banned from congested areas for three to four hours each working day, split between morning and evening peak (or near peak) hours. 6. The Transport Department should conduct a thorough evaluation of the benefits in terms of congestion reduction from the provision of low-cost park and ride facilities 187 at rail stations outside the core urban areas. (It might even be worth assessing whether low-cost park and ride facilities might be introduced at a few bus stations in the far New Territories). While the New Territories would likely be the primary area for low cost park and ride facilities, they should also be considered for Hong Kong Island and parts of Kowloon. The re-assessment of park and ride facilities should be coupled with another (and more credible) look at the impact of an increase in parking charges in core urban areas during normal business hours. 7. The government should evaluate and, if deemed appropriate, encourage the import of natural gas single-decker buses and medium goods vehicles. In partnership with CLP Power, the government should simultaneously explore the possibility of diverting some or all of the natural gas now being used in a relatively inefficient way at Castle Peak for use as a clean transport fuel. This experience would be valuable in determining how much of a role natural gas vehicles could play in the Pearl River Delta after the LNG facility in Guangdong is operational. 8. The government should continue to promote the use of clean diesel but expand this scheme to include trials of bio-diesel and hybrid vehicles, especially buses. It should also keep abreast of developments in fuel cell technology. With this noted, the environmental and energy drawbacks of fuel cell vehicles reliant on methanol or petrol should be carefully considered before any move to introduce these kinds of vehicles. 187 Again, a re-assessment of park and ride should be done only after the scope of work for the consultants has been reviewed by a group of experts outside of government. 55
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Civic Exchange and the Asia Foundat
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7. THE DYNAMICS OF DECISION-MAKING
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SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT IN HONG KONG:
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Page 100 and 101: AUTHORS Bill Barron (wbarron@hkucc.
Page 102 and 103: REFERENCES Airport Authority Hong K
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Civic Exchange Room 601, Hoseinee H
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