Drivers will be able to use a new 4.7-kilometre transport link connecting Kowloon East and West toll-free for the time being, authorities said on Tuesday. The Yau Ma Tei section of the Central Kowloon Bypass will open at 10am on December 21, with officials saying it will cut the travel time to Kowloon Bay in peak hours from around 30 minutes to just five. "In the first phase, when the Yau Ma Tei section is commissioned, it will be toll-free. When the whole section of the Central Kowloon Bypass is commissioned, it will be tolled," said Acting Assistant Commissioner for Transport/Management and Paratransit Ho Kwan-hang. The proposed toll once the Kowloon Bay section of the link is opened is HK$8. Buses serving eight routes will be among the first to use the new link. The Transport Department says it expects the new road will ease traffic in areas including Lung Cheung Road and Argyle Street.