Applications open for Macau-registered vehicles to use HKZMB

Applications are now open for owners of Macau-registered private vehicles to seek the right to drive over the Hong Kong- Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HKZMB).

Eligible individuals and companies may make an application to the Transport Bureau until June 26, according to a dispatch published yesterday in the Official Gazette.

Under a regular quota initiative, there are 600 permits available for owners of Macau-registered private vehicles. Each permit is valid for one year and offers unlimited access – during the permit period – to the road link on the bridge, a structure that spans the Pearl River Delta, in order to travel to Hong Kong and back.

Of the 600 permits, 300 are being offered via application from individual owners of vehicles; and 300 are being offered to respective companies that have registered a vehicle.

Individual applicants must be holders of Macau permanent identification and hold a valid driving license for light vehicles. Other conditions for individual applicants are that they must be either an employee with remunerated work in Hong Kong or have established a registered company in Hong Kong. Company-based applications must be from a company registered in Macau and hold more than 50-percent share in a subsidiary company in Hong Kong.

Not more than two designated drivers are allowed under the individual quota regime, and the named applicant himself or herself must be one of the designated drivers. For the company portion of the quota system, firms can nominate a maximum of three staff members as designated drivers.

The Transport Bureau will hold a draw on June 29 to determine the recipients of the permits.