Opinion | Hong Kong courts cross-border drivers – then traps them in licence queues

Under the scheme, drivers of Guangdong vehicles can enter via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge to either park at a designated car park – transferring to the airport for a flight or to local transport into Hong Kong – or drive straight into the urban areas. Quotas have been set to ensure enough parking and prevent the swamping of our already congested roads.

Applicants have to go through a complex process to satisfy the requirements of mainland and Hong Kong departments, which include vehicle inspections, third-party risk insurance and a valid Hong Kong driving licence. Naturally, applications for test-free driving licences for Hong Kong have gone up.

The Transport Department didn’t quite anticipate this, for reasons that befuddle us. Official statistics show demand for test-free licences has increased significantly: from 27,000 in 2021 to over 84,000 last year.

The abuse of the queuing system is a known problem. The department had rolled out stricter identification requirements last August to combat queuing gangs. But a fully upgraded online application system that extends counter services for test-free licences to all four licensing offices in Hong Kong is still not available.

With the recent increased demand, the Admiralty licensing office – the only licensing office handling test-free licence applications now – found itself dealing with overnight queues for its 140 same-day application tickets. Such walk-in applications have now been cancelled to further deter the queuing syndicates.