Shun Tak among winners of Delta Bridge bus tender

A consortium of companies including Pansy Ho’s Shun Tak Holdings has secured an exclusive contract to operate bus transportation services across the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HKZMB), and will offer lower consumer prices than existing transportation options.

The consortium comprises Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Land Transportation (Macau) Corporation, Zhuhai Yuegong Xinhai Transportation Company, Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau Bridge Shuttle Bus Services and a subsidiary of Shun Tak Holdings.

Ho disclosed the consortium’s tender victory while announcing the group’s annual results last week, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

“The company has participated in a consortium, via its subsidiary, which has succeeded in the tender,” she said, according to the Hong Kong- based newspaper.

According to media reports, the consortium intends to set fares at an affordable HKD80 per journey – about one-third of the price of traveling between Hong Kong and Macau via ferry.

The price is also lower than existing land transportation links that traverse the lengthy perimeter of the estuary, sometimes reaching as far north as the provincial capital, Guangzhou, before returning south along a route parallel to the Pearl River.

Shun Tak already operates one of the world’s largest jetfoil fleets, serving the coastal cities of the Pearl River estuary as well as several routes between Macau and Hong Kong. Its involvement in the bridge’s bus contract is expected to strengthen its transportation arm in the region.

Some 90 to 140 buses are expected to run each day between the three cities, according to the SCMP, departing every five minutes at peak hours and every 10 to 15 minutes during off-peak period. Night bus services will also operate, departing every 15 to 30 minutes.

The bus services are expected to begin operating later this year.