No manpower cuts at toll booths in Hong Kong’s tunnels even after new e-payment arrangement
Transport Department says it will not lower number of operators, as new process still requires workers to key in vehicle class manually before accepting e-payment
Manpower in Hong Kong’s tunnel toll booths will not be cut, the city’s government has said, even with the imminent roll-out of more electronic payment options.
Drivers can soon use four additional ways to pay tolls at the government’s eight tunnels – Octopus, and contactless credit cards issued by local banks namely Mastercard Contactless, Visa payWave and UnionPay QuickPass. They will be able to use these options starting from July 23 at the earliest.
So Chun-chuen, Chief Transport Officer (Tunnels and Tsing Ma) of the Transport Department, said on Friday that he expected the new e-payment arrangement, dubbed “stop and go”, to be used by more than 80 per cent of drivers.
“All the tunnel toll booths will be equipped with “stop and go” e-payment, which will bring more convenience,” he said. But the number of toll collectors at manual toll booths will not be lowered as they are still needed in the e-payment process.
With this new arrangement, the toll collector manually keys in the vehicle class and drivers then tap their smart cards on the readers installed at manual toll booths. Once the transaction is completed, the card reader will display a green light.
Drivers can pay by cash if the transaction fails.
