The Transport Department (TD) announced today (November 2) that to meet passenger demand for departure from Hong Kong Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) during peak hours at weekend, new measures will be implemented to enhance the carrying capacity of shuttle bus services at Hong Kong Port.
A spokesman for the TD said that since the HZMB has commenced operation for more than one week, it was observed that other than individual cross-boundary passengers, many tour groups have made use of shuttle bus services.
During peak hours, the shuttle bus operator had deployed over 110 buses to provide more than 50 trips on the two routes hourly. However, as tour groups rushed to depart from and arrive at Hong Kong Port within several hours in the morning and evening, long queues therefore formed for waiting for shuttle buses especially during peak hours last Saturday and Sunday.
The TD has all along discussed the matter with the shuttle bus operator and also been in liaison with cross-boundary coach trade and the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong. After discussions, two measures will be implemented to deal with possible passenger surge at Hong Kong Port in the coming weekend, especially on Sunday.
Firstly, to enhance the carrying capacity of shuttle bus services, the operator has pro-actively increased its fleet today from 120 buses to 138 buses. The TD has also requested the operator to make necessary service adjustments suitably according to the passenger demands in the three places and further improve the queuing and boarding/alighting arrangements. Also, the operator has rented 20 to 30 additional buses from the cross-boundary coach operators, bringing the total number of buses to be deployed to more than 150 buses, so as to meet the passenger demand during peak hours.
Secondly, through the co-ordination by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TICHK), the cross-boundary coach trade and the TD, a "pre-booked cross-boundary coach service" for tour groups will be provided starting this Sunday to divert passenger flow of a large number of tour groups from using shuttle bus services and make better use of the carrying capacity of the existing cross-boundary coaches.
Through this pre-booking service, travel agencies can purchase cross-boundary coach tickets for journeys from Hong Kong Port to Zhuhai Port for their tour groups in advance. During the departure peak hours in the evening, 24 trips will be available for pre-booking per hour, carrying some 5 000 tour group passengers departing from Hong Kong so that passengers intended to use shuttle bus services can be diverted. The TICHK will co-ordinate the pre-booking arrangements to ensure all coaches to arrive at Zhuhai Port in an orderly manner.
To facilitate the implementation of the above-mentioned new measures, directional signs will be erected in the vicinity of the pick-up areas for shuttle buses and cross-boundary coaches at Hong Kong Port to remind passengers of the diversion arrangements.
The spokesman added that with reference to the existing arrangements for other boundary crossing points, the governments of the three places have started to discuss about the implementation of the special ad hoc quota system to allow cross-boundary coaches allocated with HZMB quotas to operate additional trips to meet the upsurge of the departing and arriving passengers during holidays and special occasions.
Based on observations last Saturday and Sunday, the arrival and departure peaks were noted from 10am to noon and from 6pm to 8pm respectively. Passengers are advised to plan their journeys in advance in order to make their journeys more pleasant and smooth. Members of the public should also stay alert to the latest traffic news on radio.
The TD's Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre will continue to closely monitor the public transport services to and from the Hong Kong Port in the coming weekend.
Follow this news feed: East Asia