Southbound cars scheme to cover 21 cities next year

Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said on Saturday that the government aims to expand the Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles scheme to all 21 cities in the province in the first quarter of next year. She was speaking after the administration had announced this month that the scheme would be expanded to all nine mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area from July 25 as part of an agreement with Guangdong to extend it to the entire province. As part of the July 25 expansion, the daily travel booking quota for entry into urban areas will be increased from 100 to 200 vehicles. Speaking on a radio programme, Chan said the scheme has been well received by Guangdong drivers since it was rolled out last year for vehicles from just four cities. "Data has shown us that operations have been smooth, and we can see that application numbers for travel during weekends and festive periods have been way more than the quota," she said. Chan said the scheme, alongside the Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles counterpart, would promote accelerated integration of the SAR into the development of other cities in the Greater Bay Area. She also expressed hope that more tourist spots and exhibition venues in the SAR could roll out additional parking and discount packages to boost tourist spending. When asked whether the government has had to deal with road-traffic violations by southbound drivers since the start of the scheme, Chan said her bureau has recorded sporadic cases and followed up on them with departments in Guangdong. Edited by Robert Kemp