The government’s plan to charge time-varying tolls for the Tai Lam Tunnel has been welcomed by transport sector lawmaker Frankie Yick who describes the proposed new tolls as “acceptable”.

Yick told RTHK on Wednesday that he understands people want to see lower tolls, but they have to realise the priority is to ease traffic congestion.

“Well, of course, I think everybody wants the government to lower down the toll to make it even more affordable. But I think we have to look at the numbers. So, if we believe the numbers are correct, I think the most important thing is after the introduction of the new toll, we have to make sure the Tai Lam Tunnel will not be congested. Otherwise, it will defeat the whole purpose,” he said.

Yick also backed the decision not to allow toll-free journeys during non-peak hours, saying the charges are affordable and it is reasonable to make people pay for the maintenance costs.

“I think I would agree that we should maintain some charges, but of course the most important thing is whether it's affordable by the driving public. If you look at the non-peak hours fee right now at HK$18 [for private cars], I think it's quite reasonable in a sense.”

“And of course the government, after taking over the management of the tunnel, they do have the maintenance costs and future investment costs, upgrade of services, that sort of stuff. I think they still need money to do that,” he said.

DAB lawmaker Ben Chan, the chairman of Legco's panel on transport, expressed hope that the government would consider further reducing the tolls for taxis and commercial vehicles.

“The government has provided us data and told us it hopes to avoid congestion in the tunnel. This is also in the public's interest. We hope that if the new toll system is implemented, there will be a review after about a year to assess the actual transport situation and see if these tolls are necessary,” he said.

Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker Michael Luk, meanwhile, said he thinks the charges during peak hours will still be high, urging authorities to shorten the peak hours period and further reduce fees during other times of day.