Price-management of traffic congestion: Hong Kong's Lion Rock Tunnel

Kang Hua Cao; Yuk Shing Cheng; Chi Keung Woo

doi:10.1016/j.cstp.2017.07.006

Price-management of traffic congestion: Hong Kong's Lion Rock Tunnel

Kang Hua Cao^*, Yuk Shing Cheng, Chi Keung Woo

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

99 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Hong Kong drivers face rush-hour traffic congestion at the Lion Rock Tunnel (LRT) which interconnects the Northeast New Territories and the Kowloon Peninsula. The LRT's flat toll is HK$8 (≈US$1.03), much lower than the Tate's Cairn Tunnel's (TCT's) vehicle-differentiated tolls of HK$13 to HK$34 per vehicular trip. We develop two proposals to raise the LRT's toll and reduce the TCT's tolls. Using the monthly data available from the Hong Kong Transport Department for the 15-year period of 2000–2014, we estimate a Generalized Leontief demand system to document statistically significant (p-value < 0.05) tunnel usage responses to these toll proposals. As the two tunnels’ elasticity estimates vary by traffic direction, a directional toll proposal may further ease the LRT's rush-hour congestion. Hence, Hong Kong can price-manage the LRT's congestion because a decrease in the LRT's total usage likely reduces the LRT's peak usage that occurs during the rush hours.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	699-706
Number of pages	8
Journal	Case Studies on Transport Policy
Volume	5
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2017.07.006
Publication status	Published - Dec 2017

Scopus Subject Areas

Geography, Planning and Development
Transportation
Urban Studies

User-Defined Keywords

Hong Kong
Lion Rock Tunnel
Revenue-neutral toll proposals
Traffic congestion
Transportation demand management

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.cstp.2017.07.006

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title = "Price-management of traffic congestion: Hong Kong's Lion Rock Tunnel",

abstract = "Hong Kong drivers face rush-hour traffic congestion at the Lion Rock Tunnel (LRT) which interconnects the Northeast New Territories and the Kowloon Peninsula. The LRT's flat toll is HK$8 (≈US$1.03), much lower than the Tate's Cairn Tunnel's (TCT's) vehicle-differentiated tolls of HK$13 to HK$34 per vehicular trip. We develop two proposals to raise the LRT's toll and reduce the TCT's tolls. Using the monthly data available from the Hong Kong Transport Department for the 15-year period of 2000–2014, we estimate a Generalized Leontief demand system to document statistically significant (p-value < 0.05) tunnel usage responses to these toll proposals. As the two tunnels{\textquoteright} elasticity estimates vary by traffic direction, a directional toll proposal may further ease the LRT's rush-hour congestion. Hence, Hong Kong can price-manage the LRT's congestion because a decrease in the LRT's total usage likely reduces the LRT's peak usage that occurs during the rush hours.",

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author = "Cao, {Kang Hua} and Cheng, {Yuk Shing} and Woo, {Chi Keung}",

note = "Funding Information: We would like to thank all reviewers for their helpful comments that have improved this paper's exposition and conciseness. This paper is funded by research grants from Hong Kong Baptist University and Education University of Hong Kong. All remaining errors are solely our own.",

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AU - Cheng, Yuk Shing

AU - Woo, Chi Keung

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N2 - Hong Kong drivers face rush-hour traffic congestion at the Lion Rock Tunnel (LRT) which interconnects the Northeast New Territories and the Kowloon Peninsula. The LRT's flat toll is HK$8 (≈US$1.03), much lower than the Tate's Cairn Tunnel's (TCT's) vehicle-differentiated tolls of HK$13 to HK$34 per vehicular trip. We develop two proposals to raise the LRT's toll and reduce the TCT's tolls. Using the monthly data available from the Hong Kong Transport Department for the 15-year period of 2000–2014, we estimate a Generalized Leontief demand system to document statistically significant (p-value < 0.05) tunnel usage responses to these toll proposals. As the two tunnels’ elasticity estimates vary by traffic direction, a directional toll proposal may further ease the LRT's rush-hour congestion. Hence, Hong Kong can price-manage the LRT's congestion because a decrease in the LRT's total usage likely reduces the LRT's peak usage that occurs during the rush hours.

AB - Hong Kong drivers face rush-hour traffic congestion at the Lion Rock Tunnel (LRT) which interconnects the Northeast New Territories and the Kowloon Peninsula. The LRT's flat toll is HK$8 (≈US$1.03), much lower than the Tate's Cairn Tunnel's (TCT's) vehicle-differentiated tolls of HK$13 to HK$34 per vehicular trip. We develop two proposals to raise the LRT's toll and reduce the TCT's tolls. Using the monthly data available from the Hong Kong Transport Department for the 15-year period of 2000–2014, we estimate a Generalized Leontief demand system to document statistically significant (p-value < 0.05) tunnel usage responses to these toll proposals. As the two tunnels’ elasticity estimates vary by traffic direction, a directional toll proposal may further ease the LRT's rush-hour congestion. Hence, Hong Kong can price-manage the LRT's congestion because a decrease in the LRT's total usage likely reduces the LRT's peak usage that occurs during the rush hours.

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Price-management of traffic congestion: Hong Kong's Lion Rock Tunnel

Abstract

Scopus Subject Areas

User-Defined Keywords

UN SDGs

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