Untitled - Civic Exchange

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT IN HONG KONG: DIRECTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES
The increase in the use of heavy goods vehicles may be associated
with the increase in cross-border trade with mainland China,
particularly the movement of shipping containers by lorry. The
decline in the use of light goods vehicles may reflect the decline
in manufacturing in Hong Kong. These trends are illustrated in
Figure 6.2, which shows by value the overall increase in the reexport
of goods from and to mainland China - by far the largest
portion of the trade - and the decline in domestic exports, i.e.,
goods made in Hong Kong. 193
Figure 6.3 shows how these economic trends are reflected in the
number of vehicles crossing the border. The number of goods
vehicles other than container lorries has remained relatively
steady at about 4.5 million crossings per year. However, the
number of container lorry crossings increased almost fourfold
between 1991 and 2001. 194
The 4.4 million border crossings by container vehicles and the 4.7
million crossings by other goods vehicles in 2001 illustrated in Figure 6.3 indicate an average of about 12,100
and 13,000 crossings respectively per day. More than 60% of the crossings by goods vehicles and almost 80%
of the crossings by container lorries are made at
Lok Ma Chau crossing point. Of the three road
crossing points into mainland China, Lok Ma
Chau is the nearest to the Hong Kong port. It is
also open for the most hours per day, from 6:30
a.m. to midnight.
In relation to the total volume of Hong Kong
traffic, the amount of road activity contributed
by cross-border traffic is small, perhaps one
million vehicle-kilometers per day of the six
million vehicle-kilometers involving goods
vehicles and 32 million vehicles-kilometers
traveled overall. 195 However, cross-border
traffic is likely to account for a large proportion
of vehicles on the roads between the port and
the border. 196 The exact proportion may not be
known until results from a 2003 Transport
Figure 6.2 Value of domestic exports
and re-exports involving mainland
China, 1990-2000
Exports in billions of 1990 HK$
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
Re-exports to/from
mainland China
Domestic exports
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000
Figure 6.3 Border crossings by container lorries and other
goods vehicles (left-hand scale) and container traffic leaving
the port by road (right-hand scale)
Tho usa nds of ro ad v ehi cle s cros sin g bo und ary
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
Goods vehicl es
Container vehicles
Containers
1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
Th ou san ds of TEUs enteri ng or
lea vin g th e po rt by r oad
58
193
The data in Figure 6.2 are chiefly from CSD (2000), Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics.
194 The data in Figure 6.3 are chiefly from the Transport Department (Dec 2001), Monthly Traffic and Transport
Digest, Hong Kong: HKSAR Government; and Port and Maritime Board (PMB) (2002), Summary Statistics on
Port Traffic in Hong Kong (as of December 2001), Hong Kong: HKSAR Government.
195 The estimate of 32 million vehicle-kilometers (vkm) is in Transport Department (2000), Annual Traffic Census
2000, Hong Kong: HKSAR Government. Other vkm estimates in this paragraph were made by Richard Gilbert.
196 For example, heavy goods vehicles comprised 0.6% of road vehicles licensed in Hong Kong in 2001 but
amounted to 8.8% of vehicles using the Tai Lam tunnel, which lies between the port and the border. Transport
Department (Dec 2001), Monthly Traffic and Transport Digest, Hong Kong: HKSAR Government.