Following is a question by the Hon Frankie Yick and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, in the Legislative Council today (June 16):
Question:
Some heavy goods vehicle drivers living in Tseung Kwan O have relayed that due to shortage of car parking spaces, they can only park their vehicles on the roadside in the district at night without blocking the traffic. However, they are often issued with multiple fixed penalty notices (FPNs) by the Police for illegal parking, causing them to lose a whole day's worth of income. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of FPNs issued in each of the past two years by the Police for illegal parking and, among them, the respective numbers of those (i) which were issued between 10pm and 6am on the following day, and (ii) which were issued in respect of the same vehicle within 24 hours, with a breakdown by District Council (DC) district; if such figures are unavailable, whether it will compile such statistics;
(2) of the number of each class of licensed vehicles (including private cars, motorcycles, vans, medium goods vehicles, heavy goods vehicles, non-franchised public buses, public light buses, and school private light buses) and the respective numbers of public car parking spaces available for their use, in each of the past two years, as well as the respective ratios of the former to the latter;
(3) of the current numbers of night-time on-street car parking spaces for parking by the classes of commercial vehicles (CVs) mentioned in (2), and the expected changes in such numbers in the coming five years, with a breakdown by DC district; and
(4) of the measures in place to expedite the provision of more night-time on-street car parking spaces for parking by CVs on the roads with little traffic during night time throughout the territory (particularly in Tseung Kwan O district)?
Reply:
President,
The Government's current policy on the provision of car parking spaces is to accord priority to considering and meeting the parking demand of commercial vehicles (CVs), and to provide an appropriate number of private car (PC) parking spaces if the overall development permits, but at the same time not to encourage frequent users of public transport to opt for PCs in lieu of public transport, so as to avoid aggravating road traffic. After consulting the Hong Kong Police Force (the Police) and the Transport Department (TD), my reply to the various parts of the Hon Frankie Yick's question is as follows:
(1) The Police handles information on fixed penalty notices (FPNs) for illegal parking by Police Region, and therefore does not maintain relevant figures by District Council district. In 2019 and 2020, the number of FPNs issued by the Police under the Fixed Penalty (Traffic Contraventions) Ordinance (Cap. 237) in respect of illegal parking, with a breakdown by Police Region is tabulated below:
| Police Region | Number of Fixed Penalty Notices Issued on Illegal Parking | |
| Year 2019 | Year 2020 | |
| Hong Kong Island | 287 149 | 599 218 |
| Kowloon East | 251 430 | 489 901 |
| Kowloon West | 339 549 | 631 593 |
| New Territories South | 296 732 | 512 831 |
| New Territories North | 249 884 | 474 326 |
| Total | 1 424 744 | 2 707 869 |
The Police does not maintain any breakdown of the figures by a period of time nor by individual vehicles as requested in the question. The Police keeps under review the classifications of the statistics from time to time with a view to enhancing traffic management work.
(2) Overall speaking, there are two types of parking spaces, namely public parking spaces and ancillary parking spaces. For instance, in December 2020, the total number of public parking spaces accounted for only about 30 per cent of the total number of parking spaces in Hong Kong, and the rest are ancillary parking spaces. Therefore, using the total number of parking spaces (i.e. including both public and ancillary parking spaces) for reference could better reflect the actual demand and supply of parking spaces. The number of various types of licenced vehicles and their parking spaces (including public and ancillary parking spaces) as well as the ratio of the two sets of figures as at December 2019 and December 2020 are tabulated at Annex I.
(3&4) Since 2016, the TD has embarked on a scheme for increasing on-street night-time CV parking spaces. Suitable on-street locations, particularly those available for loading and unloading during day time, are designated as night-time parking spaces for goods vehicles, coaches and other non-franchised buses. The scheme also includes the designation of certain on-street PC parking spaces for night-time parking of goods vehicles, coaches and other non-franchised buses while maintaining their use as PC parking spaces during day time. The number of on-street night-time CV parking spaces by vehicle class and district in Hong Kong as at May 2021 are tabulated at Annex II. It shows that 227 on-street night-time CV parking spaces are located at Tseung Kwan O (all such parking spaces in Sai Kung District are located in Tseung Kwan O).
The TD understands that there is a great demand for on-street night-time CV parking spaces, and will continue to actively identify locations for provision of such parking spaces. However, since the progress in the provision of new parking spaces hinge on a host of factors, including the views of nearby residents and members of the local community, it is difficult for the TD to make a precise projection on the number of on-street night-time CV parking spaces in the next few years.
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