Transport department authorities announced today the adjustment on the tolls at the Hong Kong 3- Harbour Tunnels after the approval by the Exco on Tuesday, according to the source.
Lam Sai - hung, the secretary for Transport and Logistics authorities announced that easing the cross-harbour congestion would comprise a two-phase plan. In the first phase, the tolls of the private cars travelling through the congested Cross-Harbour Tunnel and Eastern Harbour Tunnel will be raised to HK$30 while the less travelling and the most expensive, Western Harbour Tunnel will be cut to HK$60 from HK$75. This will commence on the 2nd of August.
The second phase is comprised of the adoption of a time-varying toll and it is said to be launched by the end of the year. It was stated that starting from Monday to Saturday between the peak period of 7:30 am to 10:00 am, both Cross-Harbour Tunnel and Eastern-Harbour Tunnel tolls will be increased to Hk$40 but the tolls at Western-Harbour Tunnel will remain at HK$60. Also, every hour between 10:15 am to 4:30 pm, the tolls will be reduced to HK$30 and from 7:00 pm to 7:30 am further to HK$20 at all 3 crossings.
Additionally, in other to prevent the drivers from increasing their speed because of catching up with the transition period of the peak hour, therefore, the fees will progressively be increased by HK$2 every two minutes from a peak hours slot up to the maximum. It will be the reverse arrangement at off-peak periods.
However, there have been different views about if these plans and arrangements will provide a lasting solution to Harbour Tunnel imbalance traffic problems.
香港3條過海隧道收費調整及時變計劃重新分配交通
消息人士稱，經行政會議週二批准，運輸署當局今天宣布調整香港三號海底隧道的隧道費。
運輸及物流事務局局長林世雄宣布，紓緩過海擠塞情況將分兩階段進行。 第一階段，私家車通過擁擠的海底隧道和東區海底隧道的通行費將提高至30元，而車次較少且費用最高的西區海底隧道的通行費則由75元下調至60元. 這將從8月2日開始。
第二階段將包括採用時變收費，據說將於今年年底啟動。 據稱，由星期一至星期六上午七時三十分至上午十時，海底隧道及東區海底隧道的隧道費均會上調至40港元，但西區海底隧道的隧道費將維持不變 60 港元。 此外，在上午 10 點 15 分至下午 4 點 30 分之間，每小時通行費將減至 30 港元，而從晚上 7 點至上午 7 點 30 分，所有 3 個過境點的通行費將進一步減至 20 港元。
此外，為防止司機因趕上高峰時段的過渡期而加快車速，因此收費會由高峰時段每兩分鐘逐步增加港幣2元，直至最高限額。 非高峰時段為相反安排
不過，對於這項計劃安排能否長久解決海底隧道交通不平衡問題，一直有不同意見。
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