LegCo Panel on Transport
Feasibility Study of Inter-district Bus-only Lanes
Purpose
This paper informs Members of the progress of the feasibility study on Inter-district Bus Only Lanes (BOLs) and the Administrations plan to try out a BOL between Aberdeen and Wan Chai in 1997.
Background
2. In the 1995 Legislative Council debate on the recommendations made by the Working Group on Measures to Address Traffic Congestion, Members supported giving greater priority to buses in the use of road space .
3. In his 1995 Policy Address, the Governor pledged that consultants would be employed to explore the feasibility of introducing BOLs on a territory-wide basis.
4. A consultancy study was commissioned in August 1996 at a cost of $4.6 m to investigate, plan, design and evaluate inter-district BOLs. The study is scheduled to take 17 months during which one BOL scheme will be tried out.
The study
5. Six major inter-district traffic corridors which are heavily used by buses and which form vital links between homes and work places have been identified for investigation. They are :
- Aberdeen - Wan Chai - Central ;
- Kwun Tong - To Kwa Wan/Hung Hom - Tsim Sha Tsui ;
- Tseung Kwan O - Kwun Tong ;
- Sheung Shui - Sha Tin - Tsim Sha Tsui ;
- Tuen Mun - Kwai Chung - Tsim Sha Tsui ; and
- Tsing Yi - Kwai Chung.
6. The consultants are required to establish the engineering and operational feasibility of BOLs along these corridors, evaluate the benefits, assess the impact of BOL on other traffic and road users and make recommendations on traffic management measures to be introduced with BOL schemes.
7. Up to now, detailed investigations have been made on two urban corridors and District Boards and public transport operators consulted on the proposals for BOLs. Details are set out below.
Corridors Studied
The Aberdeen - Wan Chai corridor
8. Owing to extensive road works in Central, the investigation of the Aberdeen-Wanchai-Central Corridor is confined to Aberdeen-Wan Chai at this stage. As illustrated in Annex 1, the scheme involves in the Wanchai bound direction a series of BOL from Wong Chuk Hang Road in Aberdeen to Arsenal Street in Wan Chai during 7 a.m. - 10 a.m.; and in the Aberdeen bound direction a 24-hour bus and tram only lane on eastbound Hennessy Road from Tin Lok Lane to Canal Road and from there a bus only right turn into Canal Road East underneath the flyover and a series of BOL from southbound Morrison Hill Road in Wan Chai to Wong Chuk Hang Road in Aberdeen during 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.. The scheme will operate daily except Sundays and Public Holidays. A total of 51 bus routes carrying about 90,000 passengers during the bus only lane periods will benefit from the scheme.
9. Hennessy Road is a popular route for public light buses (PLB). As boarding and alighting of passengers will be affected during the BOL hours, the PLB Associations have been consulted. The proposed scheme has taken their views into account in that a section of eastbound Hennessy Road between Arsenal Street and Stewart Road will be excluded from the scheme for further consideration in future.
10. The Wan Chai and Southern District Boards have no objection in principle to the proposal and have agreed to a trial.
The Kwun Tong - To Kwa Wan/Hung Hom - Tsim Sha Tsui corridor
11. As illustrated in Annex 2, this scheme involves in the Tsim Sha Tsui bound direction, a series of BOL from Kwun Tong Road near Hoi Yuen Road in Kwun Tong to Salisbury Road in Tsim Sha Tsui during 7 a.m. - 10 a.m., a 24-hour BOL in Prince Edward Road East; and in the Kwun Tong bound direction, a series of BOL from Salisbury Road in Tsim Sha Tsui to Kwun Tong Road near Hong Ning Road in Kwun Tong during 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. The scheme will operate daily except Sundays and public holidays. A total of 68 bus routes carrying about 150,000 passengers during the bus only lane periods will benefit from the scheme.
12. The Wong Tai Sin and Kowloon City District Boards have no objection to trying out the proposal. The Kwun Tong District Board, however, considered that Kwun Tong Road was now operating satisfactorily and there was no need for introducing a BOL. Yau Tsim Mong District Board, on the other hand, believed that the section of Chatham Road South was too busy to accommodate a BOL. Both District Boards therefore expressed reservations on the proposed scheme.
Implementation
13. The Aberdeen - Wan Chai Scheme has been selected for trial and is now in the detailed design stage. The cost of implementation is estimated to be $8 million. In view of the time required for the necessary civil works, the scheme will be implemented in two stages :
Stage 1 (June 1997)
complete BOL in Aberdeen along Wong Chuk Hang Road
complete BOL along Morrison Hill Road in Wanchai
establishment of a new taxi stand at Shun Tak Street off Morrison Hill Road
provide replacement loading and unloading and boarding and alighting places as required
Stage 2 (November 1997)
complete BOL along Tin Lok Lane and westbound Hennessy Road up to Arsenal Street in Wanchai
introduce a 24-hour bus only lane on eastbound Hennessy Road from Tin Lok Lane junction, leading up to the bus only right turn at Canal Road East
divert six Southern District bus routes from Wanchai Road onto Hennessy Road to make use of the Tin Lok Lane BOL and the bus only right turn at Canal Road East
relocate two tram stops
provide replacement loading and unloading and boarding and alighting places as required.
Benefits of the Aberdeen - Wan Chai BOL Scheme
14. The scheme will result in -
- an estimated saving in journey time for bus passengers of 4 - 7 minutes;
- shorter queuing time for passengers at bus stops;
- reduction in the number of lost trips and waiting time for buses ;
- a more reliable bus service ;
- strengthening of bus services viz increasing the frequency of buses on existing routes and introducing one new bus route; and
- removal of congestion at Hennessy Road/Fleming Road junction by diversion of six bus routes to the BOL.
15. The BOLs will be closely monitored by traffic surveys to evaluate their efficiency as well as impact on other traffic.
Further action
16. The Kwun Tong - Tsim Sha Tsui Scheme will be re-examined having regard to the reservations of the District Boards and the traffic situation on Chatham Road South. The District Boards will be consulted on the revised proposals.
17. The feasibility of BOLs on other corridors is under examination by the consultants. District Boards and public transport operators will be consulted in the latter part of 1997 on the other schemes.
Members to note
18. Members are requested to note the contents of this paper.
Transport Branch
April 1997
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