Why inching forward on traffic fines and parking fees won’t halt Hong Kong’s congestion woes

Paul Stapleton says the government’s reluctance to substantially raise penalties for traffic violations and parking meter fees indicates a lack of commitment to curbing congestion and pollution. However, the unrestricted growth in the number of private cars on the roads is the core problem

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Traffic inches forward as parked vehicles clog the roads in Central. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 3:03pm, 22 Jan 2018Updated: 10:56pm, 22 Jan 2018

Two news items last week illustrated the perverse logic of Hong Kong legislators regarding the realities of moving around the city. The first was the news of the 25 per cent increase in fines for five traffic violations.

On June 1 this year, drivers who violate one of the five, such as illegal U-turns, will pay a fine of HK$400, up from HK$320. The last time the fine was raised was in 1994. In other words, with the increase, the new fine hardly reaches 21st-century pricing levels once inflation is taken into account.

The government originally proposed a more reasonable, but still paltry and overly generous 50 per cent increase, which included several more infractions; however, a Legislative Council subcommittee of both pro-democracy and pro-establishment members, balked at this so the government had to settle for a measly 25 per cent.

The second item was about a proposed increase in parking meter fees. Similar to the increase for driving violations, the government proposed doubling the maximum metered parking fee, in existence since 1994, to at least HK$4 or HK$5 for every 15 minutes.

A traffic warden issues a ticket in North Point during a crackdown on illegal parking in September 2017. Photo: Sam Tsang

Once again, however, our elected officials found this increase too high and proposed a much smaller rise.