Guest Comments by the Civic Exchange
(A Public-Policy Think Tank)
HONG KONG – Local government needs to reduce the threat to public health from pollution by this city's franchised bus fleet. Such buses account for up to 40 per cent of roadside emissions.
“Air pollution, especially from commercial diesel vehicles, forms the greatest unmanaged threat to public health in Hong Kong,” said Civic Exchange environmental program manager Mike Kilburn. “Conflicts of interest and misallocation of responsibility within the government delay swift action to fix the problem.”
Most Hong Kong franchised buses (4,000-plus among 5,700 buses) run on highly polluting pre-Euro, Euro-I or Euro-II engines. Diesel emissions are linked to asthma, allergies and chronic conditions like strokes, heart and lung diseases.
The Environmental Protection Department has identified measures to reduce emissions, like the introduction of low-emissions zones in congested areas and of catalytic converters. The financial secretary allocated HK$300 million in a Pilot Green Transport Fund for trials of cleaner technologies. Bus operators resist the proposals or stay silent.
The Transport Department controls the replacement of buses, requiring operators to keep them running for three-to-five years after fully depreciated. This helps to keep the bus-fares low.
Hybrid buses would reduce pollution dramatically, cut carbon emissions and fuel-consumption and require no infrastructure changes. Such buses cost about HK$4.5 million, versus HK$3 million for a diesel-powered Euro V bus, but the operating costs stay 30 per cent lower.
There's a worrisome lack-of-urgency toward reducing emissions, despite the well-established health impact. “Urgency to clean up comes from the proven threat of roadside emissions to public health,” said Kilburn. “But the EPD has a limited remit, less expertise and no moral authority to address health issues. This only can come from the Food and Health Bureau. Until the secretary for food and health is accountable to the public for the impacts of air pollution, the lack of urgency to clean up likely will remain.”
Hong Kong's government must set the direction with a clear policy statement aiming to improve air quality until pollution no longer poses the significant human-health threat it does today.
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