TD clarifies report on Emergency Transport Coordination Centre

     Regarding a news report suggesting that the Emergency Transport Coordination Centre (ETCC) of the Transport Department (TD) did not operate yesterday (October 1), the TD today (October 2) clarified as follows:
 
     The ETCC operates 24 hours daily and under three different modes depending on the scale and severity of the incident. The operation of the ETCC will be escalated to Joint Steering Mode (i.e. Tier Three Mode) as and when there is a major traffic incident, public event or activity. The ETCC will work in co-operation with the public transport operators (including the MTR and bus operators) and other relevant departments and parties to closely monitor the traffic and transport situation. Over the past few months, the ETCC has operated under the Tier Three Mode on various occasions when there is a planned or anticipated public activity or event. The TD, where appropriate, also disseminates the latest traffic news to the members of the public through the media, the TD's website and the "HKeMobility" mobile application. 
 
     The ETCC activated the Tier Three Mode at 6am yesterday and it remained till this morning. The ETCC had been closely monitoring the road traffic and public transport services. As and when the roads and railway services in different districts were affected, the ETCC co-ordinated with the Police and the public transport operators to implement the corresponding public transport arrangements as soon as possible. For example, bus or minibus operators adjusted the services as appropriate when some MTR stations could not operate normally. Upon road blockage, the routes of buses or minibuses were diverted or truncated so as to continue providing services to the public provided the road conditions permitted. The TD issued over 60 items of traffic news yesterday.