Call to increase car quota on cross-border bridge
A motorists’ group has urged the government to allow more local cars to enter Guangdong via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge now that the mainland has boosted its capacity to perform the required inspections.
The Hong Kong Automobile Association made the appeal yesterday, a day before registration opens for computer balloting for the cross-border driving scheme. It also hoped authorities on both sides of the border could keep the application process as simple as possible, warning complicated procedures could scupper the scheme.
In a post on the official Facebook page of his bureau on Sunday, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung said that after a discussion between the Hong Kong government and mainland authorities, the China Inspection Company had increased its daily quota of checks to 700 cars. It reportedly inspected some 300 cars a day at present.
“The company has also extended its service hours. Previously it was 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Now it is 8am to 8pm, and it will open on Saturday and Sunday, ” Lam said.
But he noted authorities would only process 200 applications a day in the first week and 300 daily in the second to facilitate a smooth start.
Lam said the city government would keep in close contact with mainland authorities to work out more measures to help the cross-border driving scheme.
The Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles scheme allows eligible private cars to travel between the city and Guangdong via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.
The move, approved by the State Council last November, is meant to help boost the development of the Greater Bay Area and make better use of the bridge by allowing Hong Kong residents to visit Guangdong on a short-term basis for business, visiting families or sightseeing.
Hong Kong drivers must register to enter a computer ballot for a slot through the designated website www.hzmbqfs.gov.hk.
The first round of registration will be open from 10am today to 11.59pm tomorrow. Results will be announced at 10am on Wednesday.
For a car to be qualified for the scheme, it has to be cleared by the China Inspection Company – a testing, certification and appraisal agency approved by the State Council and the only recognised facility able to examine crossborder vehicles in Hong Kong.
Automobile Association president Ringo Lee Yiu-pui welcomed the increase in the inspection quota to 700 cars a day but called for a similar rise in the number of drivers allowed to go north.
“But I was surprised not to hear a corresponding increase in the number of applications the Hong Kong government is to process. The quota is still between 200 and 300 daily for the first two weeks,” Lee said. “If some 700 cars can be inspected a day, why can we not have 700 cars allowed daily to go north under the scheme?”
Lee said the online registration for the computer ballot could also dampen motorists’ interest in the scheme if the procedures were too complicated.
“It is a popular scheme. Over 400,000 cars are eligible. Even if only half of the drivers would like to give it a try, we are talking about some 200,000,” Lee said adding that if a motorist repeatedly failed in an application, they may simply give up.
Legislator Chan Hok-fung, also a deputy spokesman for transport affairs at the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said he appreciated the government would like to begin with a smaller daily quota for a smoother start.
“Officials have said that they would review the daily quota later,” Chan said. “We also hope the China Inspection Company can further expand its capacity in the future to cope with surging demand.”