Authorities brace for 680,000 daily cross-boundary travel surge

As the five-day Labor Day holiday for the mainland approaches, the Macau government is taking measures to cope with the expected surge in cross-boundary passenger and vehicle traffic.

According to Lei Tak Fai, the director of Public Relations of the Public Security Police, the daily average number of cross-boundary passenger trips from May 1 to May 5 is expected to exceed 680,000, with peaks on May 2 and May 3 when the daily average is expected to reach around 700,000.

It is expected the Border Gate, Qingmao Port, followed by the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB), will see the most people, Lei said yesterday during a press briefing at the Border Gate.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Customs and Excise Department expects the cross-boundary vehicular flow during the May 1 holiday this year to be lower than past long holidays, but the passenger flow will be higher than the previous May 1 holiday.

The peak of the vehicular flow is expected to be on May 1, May 4, and May 5.

To cope with the anticipated busy traffic, the government will deploy internal staff to support frontline work at the control points.

Additional counters and lanes will be opened where necessary to ease the flow of immigration and customs traffic.

The government will also maintain close communication with the mainland and Hong Kong border control authorities to coordinate the clearance situation.

The Macao Government Tourism Office estimates there will be an average of 130,000 arrivals during the Labor Day Golden Week.

The police will closely monitor the flow of people and vehicles in tourist areas and adopt temporary traffic control or crowd control measures if necessary.