Our Desk | Forgotten buses

Julie Zhu

Bus line 25 has recently become a hot topic because it was decided that the line would no longer serve the Hac Sa Beach area.

Some people complained about this decision despite not knowing where exactly to take the bus. Others felt disappointed because they now have one less option when it is time to go home.

If the decision to shorten line 25 was for the purpose of ensuring the bus could run more effectively and better serve passengers, then routes 71 and 73 ought to be reconsidered. Buses 71 and 73 are two of the three lines that share a terminal on the campus of the University of Macau, connecting people from that school, a seemingly sporadically visited place, to all other parts of the city, including Taipa and the Macau Peninsula.

Both buses 71 and 73 run from the UM campus and pass by the Praça de Ferreira do Amaral, while bus 72 serves a few spots in Taipa. Notwithstanding, upon leaving Praça de Ferreira do Amaral, bus 73 drives towards Areia Preta.

Since their inception, buses 71 and 73 have seen several changes to their routes, mainly in the form of extra stops added between their terminals.

For instance, bus 73 used to stop at Ponte de Sai Wan/ Av. Jardins do Oceano before hitting Praça de Ferreira do Amaral. Now, the bus stops at Rotunda Marginal/ Est. do Dique Oeste, and then goes to the Macau Tower. Afterwards, it traverses through Av. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and Av. 24 de Junho before heading to the Praça de Ferreira do Amaral. Hence, the bus now covers some of the city’s main parts, despite the number of passengers it takes still indicates that this bus serves mainly workers and students from UM.

Thus the question arises: why run across the long way from the UM campus to the Areia Preta, passing through the Macau Tower and stopping near some of Taipa’s main hotels, if the bus only carries students and workers from UM? Can someone make bus 73 feel prouder about its road performance? 

During off-peak traffic times, buses 71 and 73 are like two good friends, they even occasionally depart from UM together. This situation causes the bus following behind to often carry a single-digit number of people – or sometimes none at all – which is normally the case for bus 71. This happens because these two buses leave the UM terminal simultaneously and because the majority of the passengers want to go to the border gate, thus preferring 73. When bus 73 arrives five seconds earlier than 71, the poor 71 is very likely to be left empty. Similar situations happen in the reverse direction.

In summary, these buses definitely benefit those who want to visit UM. However, seeing these buses empty or seeing them stopping at many stops without anybody to hop on, really brings people down.

Money is being invested in routes 71 and 73, traffic compounds because of them and even bridges have been prioritized for them, but where are the passengers for buses 71 and 73?