Ordinary Gweilo

The government has announced plans for a new bridge linking Cheung Sha Wan to Tsing Yi. This will eventually form part of “Route 8” from Sha Tin to the airport, the first section of which is already under construction, and the last part of which (Tsing Ma bridge to the airport) has been open for about 6 years.

This will presumably relieve congestion on the old Tai Po Road and through the Shing Mun tunnel, at least temporarily. According to Jake van der Kamp in the SCMP, the government is claiming that it will cut journey times from Sha Tin to the airport from one hour to 25 minutes, but that is definitely over-stating the benefits. There is already a perfectly good route from Sha Tin to the airport, especially since they built the Tsing Yi North Coastal Road (from Tsing Yi North to the Tsing Ma Bridge) a couple of years back, and it shouldn’t take more than 35-40 minutes unless traffic is very bad. At best, I reckon the new road will cut the journey time by 10 minutes.

The problem with all road improvements is that you are fighting a battle you cannot win. As soon as you build or improve roads more people will use them, and delays will start to increase again. At this point some drivers will give up and go back to public transport. The difficulty here is that the delays also affect buses, minibuses and taxis, which is why Ken Livingstone decided to introduce the ‘Congestion Charge’ in London. It has been very effective in reducing traffic and allowing buses to reach their destinations more quickly, and he is planning further investment to increase bus services. Food for thought, maybe?