Hong Kong should keep southbound travel plan’s 100-car quota flexible: CY Leung
Former city leader suggests quota be revised if no significant issues uncovered after launch, with option to adjust for weekdays, holidays
Hong Kong should consider relaxing a proposed 100-vehicle quota for a scheme that will allow Guangdong motorists to drive to the city, former leader Leung Chun-ying has said, suggesting the limit could be adjusted for weekdays and holidays.
Leung, who now serves as a vice-chairman of the nation’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, raised the suggestion on Saturday.
Earlier this week, transport officials said drivers could start applying for the Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles scheme from November, with 100 motorists set to be allowed to cross into the city via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge each day.
Leung, a state leader, said the policy was a small step towards a larger breakthrough, adding the government could relax the quota if no accidents or traffic problems arose in the initial weeks after the scheme’s launch.
The cap could also be applied flexibly on weekdays and various holidays, he said.
“For example, we have Christmas holidays, but mainland China doesn’t. The mainland has many “golden week” holidays that we don’t,” he told a television programme.