Border Car Park To Only Take Vehicles With Bookings

The government said only motorists who have made advance reservations will be allowed to park at the Heung Yuen Wai car park from Friday, as part of a "multi-pronged approach" to tackle parking space shortage at the border checkpoint.

In a statement published on Wednesday, a government spokesman said a registration system will go back online from midnight on Friday for drivers to sign up for parking spaces, and those who have not done so will no longer be accepted into the car park.

The spokesman also said parking fees will be increased, with the hourly, daily and overnight fees going up to HK$15, HK$150 and HK$80 respectively. There will also be a rise in overtime charges. The new rates will take effect on February 24.

"In the long run, the government will continue to review the development of the area and the demand for parking spaces so as to consider the need for increasing supply of permanent public parking spaces,” the statement read.

Some cross-border travellers who had planned to park their vehicles at the Heung Yuen Wai site last weekend were told to turn away because other motorists had overstayed their time in the car park.

Authorities later suspended the booking system for a review, saying some drivers had abused the arrangement and had not moved their cars despite the expiration of their reserved time slots.