HK Tunnel Tolls to Change

Will there still be a lot of traffic in this tunnel after August 2?

It's going to cost HK$10 more for commuters to go through the Cross-Harbour Tunnel and Eastern Harbour Tunnel, but HK$15 less for the Western Harbour Tunnel from August 2.

The franchise agreement for the Western Harbour Tunnel ends on August 1 and returned to the government, thus finally allowing the authorities to regulate the tolls at all three tunnels.

Then towards the end of the year, the next step would be regulating the toll price according to the time of day.

Western Tunnel mostly empty, very expensive

Currently the Cross Harbour Tunnel is HK$20, and Eastern Tunnel is HK$25, but both will increase to HK$30 from August 2, while the Western Harbour Tunnel will drop to HK$60 from HK$75.

Then by the end of the year there will be a pricing system to discourage going through the tunnel at peak times:

7.30am-10.15am Peak toll charges

10.15am-4.30pm HK$30 at all tunnels

4.30pm-7pm Peak toll charges

7.01pm-7.30am HK$20 at all tunnels

Cross-Harbour cheapest of three tunnels

In a bid to prevent everyone flooding the tunnels just before the peak toll charges kick in, fees will progressively increase by HK$2 every two minutes from the peak-hour slot up to the maximum amount. The opposite arrangement will happen for off-peak periods.

It will be very intriguing to see how the public reacts to this new arrangement, and how it will be implemented.

But really, if you are a car owner in Hong Kong, paying more or less for the tunnel toll makes no difference. Because if you have to penny pinch, then you wouldn't own a car in the first place...