Untitled - Civic Exchange

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT IN HONG KONG: DIRECTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES
It is difficult to quantify the health effects of spending an hour or two of each working day commuting in
polluted areas, whether by vehicle or on foot, but we do know that the air quality at street level is far worse
than overall air quality in Hong Kong. At Hong Kong's three street level air monitoring stations, the
average annual concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and respirable suspended particulates (RSP)
exceeds Hong Kong's already lax air quality objectives (AQOs) by a considerable margin.
Hong Kong's air pollution is responsible for several thousand premature deaths and 75,000 additional
hospital "bed days" for pollution-related respiratory and cardiovascular problems each year. Established
epidemiological methodologies suggest that a far larger number of people experience less severe health
effects from air pollution. And while overall air pollution is a combination of pollutant emissions in Hong
Kong and ambient air pollution from Guangdong, at street level, poor air quality is due largely to
emissions from local transport.
When we consider these external costs - costs we all pay whether or not we are aware of it - the price we
pay for transport in Hong Kong seems much less acceptable.
The key question, of course, is not just how well Hong Kong's transport system works today, but how well
it is projected to work in the future. Government plans suggest there will be little improvement in the
situation. According to current projections, air quality at street level will remain very unhealthy for at least
the next 14 years. Exposure to harmful noise is projected to increase significantly, with far more people
exposed to higher noise levels for more hours each day. At the same time, overall mobility will actually
decrease due to increases in the number of vehicles on the road.
Current government plans assume that the high external costs of Hong Kong's transport system are
unavoidable. Moreover, these plans reflect a pervasive "business as usual" mentality that is fundamentally
at odds with movement towards a more sustainable transport system. The goal appears to be to continue
doing the same things much as they have always been done. Later chapters of this report discuss the
limitations of this mind-set and the need for more significant and substantive changes in transport policy
and planning.
In summary, Hong Kong's current transport system imposes external costs on the community that are
unacceptably high. In the face of expected changes, service levels are projected to decline, while high
external costs will persist and, in some cases, become far worse.
We believe the people of Hong Kong need and deserve better options. In creating an alternative vision for
Hong Kong, we have aimed to be more "visionary," while keeping practical considerations firmly in mind.
Our vision stresses the need for basic changes in the way that the HKSAR government manages and
finances transport. It does not call for more spending or more intervention, but rather for more effective
spending and intervention.
In the near- and mid-term, the proposed changes in technology are modest and economically feasible.
Nonetheless, integration of any new technology will require the active commitment and cooperation of
government, something that has been lacking in previous attempts to assess and introduce new
technologies in Hong Kong. Simply looking for cleaner ways to continue the same behaviors is an
insufficient measure for making Hong Kong's transport system more sustainable. A sustainable transport
strategy must integrate changes at both the planning and the technical level.
Implementation of the vision outlined in this report would involve some changes in the prices and types of
transport available to travelers. But overall, costs to consumers should not rise and the level of transport
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