Views: 79 Author: JAMES OCKENDEN Publish Time: 2021-10-22 Origin: transitjam
Transport Department (TD) says it plans site trials in Science Park and Tseung Kwan O in the second half of the year, and will further develop regulatory and technical requirements, including speed control, safety gear and age restrictions. New offences will also be drawn up to enforce the proposed regulations.
The site trials will focus on public acceptance of e-mobility devices on cycle tracks, the interaction between users and cyclists, as well as the impact of safety requirements. TD will then plan a legislative amendment in 2021, it says.
However, the government still says roads are the sole domain of motor vehicles (meaning cars, trucks and buses, not e-mobility devices, which were previously classed as motor vehicles), and that such devices will not be allowed onto Hong Kong’s roads.
“We are mindful our road networks are heavily used by motor vehicles,” says the government, claiming it would be too dangerous for e-mobility to share the space. E-scooters and e-bikes are also too fast for footpaths, documents explain, leaving only cycle paths as a route option for e-mobility.
An e-scooter seized by police during a crackdown on “illegal” e-bikes and e-scooters in March this year
But Sai Kung District Councillor Lai Ming-chak says, while welcoming the regulation overall, that cycleways are already too congested for new devices. “Some cycleways are way too crowded for the use of these devices, and we don’t advise users to use them on the cycleways. The government should really consult [the District Council] first,” he says.
Martin Turner, Chairman of Hong Kong Cycling Alliance, is cautiously optimistic on the proposals. “Other countries have embraced an array of electric active mobility devices for quite a while now. Implementation is often experimental as everyone works out what works best – but the key is being ready to try these exciting new options. I’m glad Hong Kong is finally taking a step towards that,” he says.
Still, Turner has qualms over the government’s approach. “Looking at the paper, I’m concerned that, as usual, government focus is on caution and restrictions rather than opportunity and improvement.”
Lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung, whose non-binding motion on cycling in 2017 raised the issue of the lack of e-mobility regulation, says the latest proposal is “a measure long overdue,” and says the devices should be “legalised totally”.
“It’s the right direction but still too conservative and unrealistic,” he says. “For example, how can people carry their scooter from home to the cycle path if it’s not legal to use elsewhere?”
Product safety is one area of concern, with several dangerous fires in the last few years, one fatal, caused by charging e-scooters. Sha Tin District Councillor Felix Chow Hiu-laam says the devices are already popular in Sha Tin but urges more details from the government. “I hope one thing the government should make clear is which model or which brand meets standards and are considered legal. It needs to be very clear,” he says.
When coming up with its proposals, the government looked at regulations from 12 other jurisdictions: Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Queensland and Victoria in Australia, UK, Germany, France, Barcelona, Washington DC and New York State. Less than half of those jurisdictions allow use of e-mobility devices on carriageways, the government says, with three cities allowing such but imposing speed limits. The majority of those cities and countries studied did not allow e-mobility devices on footpaths.
