Transport authorities demand answers after 4-hour parking meter outage

Hong Kong’s transport authorities have launched an investigation into a four-hour outage of the city’s parking meter system on Tuesday morning and ordered operator HKT to submit a report.

The Transport Department said HKT had notified it at about 8.20am that the system was out of service and urgent repairs were under way.

Shortly after noon, the department said the system had resumed normal operation following repairs.

“The Transport Department will continue to urge the operator to thoroughly investigate the cause of the incident and submit a report to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents,” it said.

“There is currently no evidence indicating that the system was attacked, and the Transport Department will notify the Digital Policy Office.”

Hong Kong has roughly 20,000 on-street metered parking spaces, according to department figures, but authorities have yet to confirm the extent of Tuesday’s outage.

Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said police would suspend enforcement action over roadside parking until the system was fully restored.

She said a preliminary investigation by the department indicated that the malfunction did not involve a malicious attack. Further investigation was under way.

“We attach great importance to this incident and the system failure. As such, I have instructed the Transport Department to demand that the operator, HKT, submit a report as soon as possible,” she said.

“I hope a preliminary report will be submitted to the Transport Department within the next 24 hours, after which we will conduct an in-depth investigation and review alongside relevant government departments, in the hope of preventing similar incidents from recurring and avoiding inconvenience to the public and motorists.”