MEMORY LANE

[Isabel Canhota and Júlio Bucho]

[MDT/Renato Marques]

Sociedade de Transportes Colectivos De Macau, S.A.R.L., more commonly known as TCM, has been operating in the Macau SAR since 1974, following the inauguration of the Nobre de Carvalho Bridge, the city’s first bridge linking Macau with Taipa. The company was formerly a ferry company, transporting passengers between Macau, Taipa and Coloane. The above photo (left) shows double decker bus route 11, which links Macau and Taipa. According to the Transport Bureau (DSAT), when the first bridge was opened in 1975, British transportation experts from Hong Kong studied the feasibility of double-decker buses running in Macau. They then introduced British double decker buses into the city, which circulated between the islands of Taipa and Coloane, and the Macau Peninsula. The DSAT noted that these buses were 14 feet in height and each double-decker bus could accommodate 90 seated and standing passengers. By 1988, these double decker buses went out of circulation, after falling into disrepair and for the absence of air-conditioning systems. LV