EVENING AREA LICENSING SCHEME (Removal)

Mr Leong Horn Kee asked the Minister for Communications whether fewer vehicles are entering the Central Business District in the evenings, with the completion of the Central Expressway, and if his Ministry will consider removing the evening Area Licensing Scheme.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Sir, the traffic counts that were conducted by the Public Works Department, before and after the opening of the Central Expressway Tunnels, showed no change in the volume of traffic entering the Restricted Zone during the evening restricted hours between 4.30 pm and 6.30 pm. There is therefore no reason to remove the evening ALS.

Mr Leong Horn Kee: Sir, although the Minister said that the study has shown that there is no change in the traffic counts, for people who come in and out of the CBD in the evening, their impression is that there is indeed a lessening of the traffic volume. On that basis, would the Minister consider shortening the hours of the ALS in the evening?

Mr Mah Bow Tan: The PWD and the Registry of Vehicles will continue to monitor the traffic situation. So far, the counts which have been done on a random basis show that there is no change in the pattern, but I can assure the Member that we will continue with these investigations into the traffic patterns.

Mr Leong Horn Kee: Sir, may I ask the Minister whether his Ministry will also consider taking off the ALS evening restriction for certain periods as a trial to see whether there are any changes actually in the traffic pattern, and whether the evening ALS will be lifted if the traffic is tolerable?

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Under special circumstances, the Ministry has actually made certain changes to the evening ALS. In fact, there was a recent case when the eve of the Lunar New Year fell on a Monday which we predicted would have some effect on the pattern of traffic in the evening. And for that reason we did make a special case for removing the evening ALS during that time. But until such special circumstances occur, I see no reason why we need to change a system which has proven effective in controlling congestion, which was the original objective of the evening ALS.