A spokesman for the Transport Department (TD) announced today (January 31) that as many cross-boundary passengers are expected to travel via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) during the Lunar New Year (LNY) holiday, the TD has been in collaboration with relevant operators to strengthen the local and cross-boundary public transport services by implementing the following measures in order to meet the festive transport demands.
The HZMB shuttle bus operator has procured 13 new buses, thus increasing its vehicle fleet to over 185. Depending on the passenger flow at the ports of the three places, the operator will appropriately deploy the vehicles to cater for the passenger demand for the Hong Kong/Zhuhai route and Hong Kong/Macao route during peak periods. Moreover, the provision of pre-booking service for group visitors will continue so as to encourage tour groups to take the shuttle bus service by pre-booking of tickets or chartering a bus. This can help better manage the passenger flow at different times of the day and avoid too many group visitors to arrive at and depart from the Hong Kong Port (HKP) at the same time. The waiting and queuing facilities for shuttle bus passengers at the HKP, such as separation of waiting areas and erection of directional signs, have also been further enhanced to facilitate the pre-booking service for group visitors, divert the passenger flow and maintain the boarding and alighting order.
For cross-boundary coach services, an additional ad-hoc quota of 200 has been issued to the existing Guangdong/Hong Kong and Hong Kong/Macao cross-boundary coach operators, increasing the daily trips from 400 to 600. It can help meet the passenger demand during the holidays and divert visitors to different places of Hong Kong.
For local public transport services, the TD will closely monitor the passenger demand for all the A routes and B routes of franchised bus service at the HKP. Additional departures will be operated during the peak periods and stand-by buses will also be arranged for special departures to cope with the peaky demand. In the meantime, bus operators will arrange staff at the HKP to maintain the boarding and alighting order. As for the bus stop for route no. B6 in Tung Chung, the Government is concerned about the passenger queuing situation. In view of the local concerns and the discussion at the Islands District Council, the en-route bus stop (Hong Kong Port bound) of route no. B6 has been temporarily relocated to the kerbside of Tat Tung Road near a public toilet during the period from January 28 to February 10, so as to minimise the impact on the residents. The TD and the Police will closely monitor the operation of the bus stop to review the impact on the residents and traffic.
In order to encourage local coaches to make use of the coach pick-up facilities at the HKP, holding areas are provided near the coach pick-up area starting today so that the coaches can wait temporarily at the holding areas before entering the pick-up area.
The TD will closely monitor the operations of local and cross-boundary transport services at the HKP during the LNY holiday and will liaise with the operators to implement appropriate measures to cater for the passenger demand when necessary.
In addition, the TD had a meeting recently with the Tourism Commission, the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong and various local and cross-boundary transport operators to discuss the situation of inbound visitors and transport arrangements at all road-based boundary control points during the LNY holiday. Communication channels have been established to strengthen liaison among the parties concerned.
Apart from the HZMB HKP, it is expected that the number of cross-boundary passengers at other land boundary control points (such as Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau and Shenzhen Bay Port) will also increase. The spokesman appeals to travelers to plan their journeys in advance and avoid crossing the boundary at peak periods. When facing busy traffic at the control points, the waiting time for public transport services may be longer than usual and passengers should obey the order and follow the instructions of the Police and staff of the relevant public transport operators on site.
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