Mobility and Sustainable Development

3.1 The objective of CTS-3 has been to establish a framework to maintain an acceptable level of mobility for people and goods up to 2016 and beyond, enabling continued social and economic development in an environmentally acceptable manner. However, in purely transport terms there are a whole range of such strategies, and it is necessary to bear in mind all other appropriate factors relevant to sustainable development.

3.2 To achieve and maintain mobility in a sustainable manner, CTS-3 has used a wide range of criteria to evaluate transport projects and policies:

Need for an Integrated Approach

3.3 As Hong Kong moves into the 21st Century, the way in which the transport system is planned needs to reflect the changing constraints and demands. With limited land available, significant further infrastructure development will be difficult and costly. Rising travel demands will result in further adverse environmental impacts.

3.4 In order to reduce the need for travel, and thereby reduce the need for further infrastructure and the impact on the environment, an approach is required in which land-use, transport, and the environment are considered in an integrated manner in both strategic and sub-regional planning studies. TDSR was conducted along this theme, and provided key development assumptions to CTS-3. CTS-3 included a Strategic Environmental Assessment as a key element in developing a transport framework. The Study has evaluated the environmental benefits and disbenefits of various transport development options to help identify a transport framework which would contribute to more sustainable development in Hong Kong.

3.5 CTS-3 has recognised that walking is an important transport mode and that facilities for pedestrians need to be incorporated into transport and land-use planning. Pedestrianisation, together with grade-separated and safe pedestrian facilities can help reduce the number of short motorised trips, enhance road safety, increase mobility and benefit the environment.

3.6 Means should be sought to maximise railway usage. This can be achieved through revisions to the planning guidelines to strengthen the existing integrated approach to further explore development opportunities along major transport corridors, to intensify developments (e.g. by increasing plot ratio) around rail stations and public transport interchanges, and to provide better pedestrian links with the transport systems. By concentrating population and employment around railway stations, reliance on the private car will be reduced, with consequent benefits for road traffic conditions and the environment. Movements of commercial vehicles should also be planned to avoid concentrating traffic flows to some districts like the Central Business District.

Consultation

3.7 In June 1998, Government issued a Consultation Document concerning the issues to be examined in CTS-3. This enabled the views of the consultees to be taken into account within the Study and represents an advance on previous CTS studies where any consultation was carried out at the end. Ten consultative meetings were held with interested parties, including advisory bodies and professional institutions. In total over 40 written submissions were received. These are summarised in the Annex to this Report.

3.8 The responses showed strong across the board support for the initiatives presented in the Consultation Document. In particular support was found for:

3.9 These views have proved useful in the development of scenarios in the later stages of CTS-3 and in defining the broad direction of transport policy.

New Initiatives Supported by the Public

3.10 Integrated Approach for Land-use and Transport Planning - there is interaction between the developments of land-use and transport and the two, along with environmental issues, must be planned together in an integrated manner so as to reduce the need for travel, thus reducing the need for expensive and environmentally intrusive infrastructure.

3.11 According Priority to Railways - wherever practical, and according to the evaluation criteria listed above, CTS-3 has recognised the predominant role of railways in the movement of passengers. CTS-3 has considered developmental, acceptability and environmental criteria in according priority to rail projects, in conformity with the transport policy that railways will form the backbone of Hong Kong's future passenger transport network.

3.12 Better Co-ordination of Public Transport - Hong Kong has one of the best public transport systems in the world, but there is always room for improvement. The current system serves around 11 million boardings every day, and is under constant improvement. The rail system is under expansion and other modes will more and more act as feeders to the railways. A park and ride network will allow private vehicles to also act as feeders to the rail system. CTS-3 has examined the ways in which the co-ordination of public transport can be improved.

3.13 Timely Provision of Transport Infrastructure - whatever infrastructure projects are selected in CTS-3, it is essential that they should not be constructed out of phase with actual demands. CTS-3 recommends the time of need for projects based on the best available forecasts of future developments, but the future is driven by too many variables to be accurately predicted. Therefore, CTS-3 has examined a range of future scenarios to give an envelope of possible needs, and has recommended to develop a review system to ensure that the need, timing, scope and priorities of the relevant highway projects are re-assessed before implementation in light of the latest development.

3.14 Managing Transport with New Technologies - a balance is required between the need for transport and how that need is satisfied. Passenger movements can be made by different modes which give different impacts on the transport system and so on the environment. The way that transport is managed will drastically affect the results of any transport strategy, and new technologies can allow us to achieve a more optimal system. CTS-3 has considered various ways, means and effects of transport management.

3.15 Need to Contain Environmental Impact - CTS-3 has examined the impact of transport policies and projects on the environment through ecological, noise and air quality evaluations. It has also identified a wide range of possible environmental mitigation measures to ensure that mobility of people and goods is achieved and maintained in a sustainable manner.

3.16 Provision of Safer and More Convenient Pedestrian Facilities - the most environmentally friendly mode of transport is walking, but the congested street conditions and the unpleasant climate have often made this unattractive to most people. There are three main areas where pedestrian facilities can be used to increase the use of this mode of travel:

3.17 In order to make the best use of our public transport system, we need to provide good walk access to the mass carriers. The proportion of trips that will use a rail line is very much higher within the 'walk-in' zone, which under normal conditions is typically about 400 metres around each station. However, this zone can be extended considerably by the provision of good walkways, separated from traffic nuisance. CTS-3 recommends that during the design of any rail station, or public transport interchange, active consideration should be given to providing good pedestrian access, which will help improve the usage of the public transport system.

3.18 The distance from Wan Chai to Central is only about 1.5 km, or less than 20 minutes at a normal walking speed. However, very few people would walk for this distance because the conditions are usually unpleasant, and normal walking speed is rarely achieved, because of the need to cross busy roads. It is not very practical to improve these conditions on the roadside footpaths without major adverse impacts on the flows of vehicular traffic. One solution would be to construct a system of grade-separated walkways throughout much of the urban area. These walkways would need direct access to buildings and transport interchanges, escalator approaches from ground level, and could incorporate travelators and air-conditioning. Hong Kong already has many walkways in commercial areas, but far too often they are exposed to the weather as are those in Central, or developed piecemeal. The walkways were of ten provided in co-operation with developers and they often meander around or through buildings, since one of the objectives is to improve patronage of shops in these buildings.

3.19 Many cities, both in developed and developing countries, have closed some of the city centre streets to vehicles, either for part or all of the time. This has led to a safer and more convenient thoroughfare for other users of those streets, reduced local environmental impact, and allowed a much more pleasant cityscape to be created. The geography of Hong Kong and its predominantly mixed land-use pattern in the old urban area does not easily lend itself to a high degree of permanent street closure, since many buildings are only serviced from a single street, and so without alternative loading/unloading facilities. Care is also required to ensure that the vehicular traffic diverted to other streets does not cause a worse problem. CTS-3 supports pedestrianisation in principle. However, district traffic studies are required to examine the local street system in sufficient detail to explore the possibilities for total or partial street closure or reduction of vehicular traffic/speed, to aim at minimising the conflict between vehicles and pedestrians as far as possible and generally improving the environment for pedestrians.

Pedestrian walkway system

3.20 It is therefore recommended that existing planning guidelines should be strengthened to develop the concept of planning around pedestrians in new areas and redevelopments, and that the pedestrian mode should be actively enhanced in developed areas by pursuing pedestrianisation, pedestrian links and walkways through district studies.

3.21 Where physical and traffic conditions permit, cycling, being another environmentally friendly means of transport, could be encouraged through planning and provision of cycleways in new towns and rural areas to form a vehicle-segregated and interlinked system.

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