Western Harbour Crossing (WHC) was franchised to Western Harbour Tunnel Co Ltd (WHTCL) in 1993 by the Hong Kong Government under a "Build, Operate and Transfer" contract. The 30-year franchise includes the financing, design, construction, commissioning and operation of WHC. WHC links Sai Ying Pun on Hong Kong Island with West Kowloon by means of a 1,970 metre tunnel. WHC has a designed capacity of 180,000 vehicles per day through three lanes in each direction - a first for Hong Kong and also for South East Asia. WHC has a large toll plaza with twenty toll lanes, four of which are reversible. This allows up to twelve lanes to be operated in any single direction to cater for tidal traffic. There are also six Autotoll lanes, three in each direction, to handle drive-through automatic electronic payment.
