The Government announced today a proposal to increase the tolls for the Aberdeen Tunnel and Shing Mun Tunnels to $8, the maximum fee for metered parking to $4 per 15 minutes and the fixed penalty for illegal parking to $400.

The current toll of the Aberdeen Tunnel and Shing Mun Tunnels for all vehicles throughout the day is $5.

The Transport & Logistics Bureau noted that the tolls for these two tunnels have not been adjusted for 34 years, during which time inflation has exceeded 130%, resulting in operational deficits. 

The $8 toll is expected to have a minimal impact on traffic, and the adjusted tolls will enable the tunnels to break-even in operations. The new tolls will be effective on September 21.

The Government also proposed to introduce an $8 toll for the Central Kowloon Bypass, which will be fully commissioned in 2026.

The bureau noted that the Central Kowloon Bypass will alleviate the current traffic congestion on major trunk roads in Kowloon, offering a shorter route with higher speeds, making it highly attractive to drivers.

If no toll is charged for the use of the Central Kowloon Bypass, it is expected that its utilisation rate will approach a saturation point shortly after its commissioning.

Taking into account the views of the Legislative Council Panel on Transport and the community, and to attract more motorists to use the bypass, the Government is proposing an $8 toll.

The proposed toll level will effectively divert approximately 20% of the overall traffic from saturated major roads in Kowloon, while reserving about 15% of spare capacity of the Central Kowloon Bypass to accommodate future traffic growth.

It will also recover nearly 80% of basic operational costs, and according to the efficiency-first principle, the fees payable by commercial and public transport vehicles will be consistent with the moderate toll charged for smaller private cars.

In addition, the Government proposed to revise the annual licence fee structure for electric private cars by charging licence fees based on their rated power.

A five-tier licence fee structure will be introduced and the adjustments will take five phases over six years to complete, to align with technological advancements and practices in other regions.

The new licence fee structure will take effect from November 1 and apply to newly registered electric private cars, while existing electric private cars will be granted a four-month grace period.

To optimise the use of limited parking resources, the Government proposes to increase the maximum fee for metered parking from $2 per 15 minutes to $4 per 15 minutes, viz. a maximum fee of $16 per hour to increase the turnover of vehicles using metered parking spaces to meet the short-term parking needs of motorists.

The new charges for metered parking spaces will take effect from September 28. The fees for metered parking spaces for goods vehicles, buses and coaches will be maintained at the existing level.

For the illegal parking fixed penalty, the Government proposed an increase of 25% from the current $320 to $400. The fixed penalties for 19 other traffic offences related to road safety and traffic congestion will be increased 50% to a new range of $480 to $1,500.

Legislative amendments regarding the adjustment of tunnel tolls, rationalising the licence fee structure and levels for electric private cars as well as adjustment of parking meter charges will be gazetted on July 18 and tabled at LegCo on July 23 for negative vetting.

As for the adjustment of fixed penalties for traffic offences, the Secretary for Transport & Logistics will move a motion at the LegCo meeting on July 30 to pass the resolutions.