Lawmakers concerned with the future of LRT operation

Lawmakers Ma Io Fong and Ron Lam are concerned with the future role and operational approach of the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) system.

The two separately submitted spoken inquiries on these matters prior to the agenda of yesterday’s plenary session of the Legislative Assembly.

Citing recent news about the LRT system and the Commission of Audit (CA) report highlighting past flaws, Lawmaker Ma noted that, according to recent government information, the lines may be operated by different companies. He believed that this could potentially create difficulties in the integration of the system, as well as decision-making.

He said that the government “must seriously consider and evaluate how will it ensure the quality and coordination of services in general,” questioning when Macau would be able to autonomously operate the Light Rail services.

To ensure the system’s smooth operation in the future, Ma called on the government to establish an accountability regime for contractor supervision, in line with the conclusions of the CA report.

Additionally, he urged the government to prepare a detailed plan to serve as a basis for operational contracts. These contracts consider all the lines and services of the LRT as one entity, ensuring that whichever company operates them always abides by a standardized set of rules and regulations.

Included among these rules would be provisions governing correspondence between LRT and Bus transportation. Requirements concerning electronic payment methods, as well as more-detailed and accurate statistical analyses of matters concerning passengers and revenue, will also be included.

To allow for the local operation of the entire LRT, Ma called for the government to accelerate the training of local personnel to staff the system’s main operational areas.

Lam echoed similar concerns about the integration of the LRT and the bus systems. He also highlighted the high price of tickets, the poor pedestrian facilities between stations, and the lack of timetabling and available information as factors that deter passengers from the LTR.

The same lawmaker noted that the current public bus service contracts are due to expire in 2026. For this reason, he argued, the government should take the time to consider and enforce new contracts to negotiate and resolve the many transfers between systems.

Lam criticized poor planning in the LRT system, specifically in the Taipa Line section. The flaws identified included the lack of connections to commercial and tourism-related buildings, forcing passengers to walk around them and cross streets to reach their intended destinations.

The same lawmaker also noted that the same issue would arise with the Seac Pai Van Station currently under construction. He noted that “there is a pedestrian flyover that connects to the original pedestrian flyover of the Seac Pai Van public housing area, but these are not systematically interconnected, which does not facilitate the use of the light rail by the residents of this area.”

“Looking at the design of the current pedestrian system in the vicinity of the light rail, we can see immediately that it cannot facilitate passengers’ direct arrival to their destinations,” he said, further noting that a single-platform monorail model was chosen for the Hengqin Line without public consultation.

The lawmaker also claimed that officials have recently considered the possibility of extending the East Line up to Qingmao Border Post, but there is no concrete plan, timeline, or guarantee that this will happen.

Lam claimed that all these issues and the lack of clarity surrounding them do not imbue the public with confidence in the public transport system. He also noted that there is much work required of the government to clean up the system’s current image.