Statistics – Transport | Vehicle ownership on the rise

The total number of licensed motor vehicles reached 241,955 at the end of March 2015, up by 5.2 percent year-on-year, according to information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC). Motorcycles and light private cars accounted for 51.9 pct and 41.4 pct of the total respectively. Another relevant indicator concerns the number of traffic accidents, totaling 3,771 cases; this figure has increased by 1 pct year-on-
year. In total the accidents recorded have resulted in 1,377 casualties and 5 deaths.
In the first quarter of 2015, the number of new motor vehicle registrations increased by 11.3 pct year-on-year to 5,523. The amount of cross-border vehicle trips reached 1,261,713 in the first quarter of 2015, showing growth of 6 pct year-on-year. Vehicle traffic through the Border Gate (970,632 trips) constituted 76.9 pct of the total number of cross-border vehicle trips.
DSEC also revealed that passenger ferry movements between Macau and Hong Kong and between Macau and mainland China totaled 35,900, an increase of 2.4 pct year-on-year. The Ferry Terminal at the Outer Harbour shared 66.5% of the total (23,875).
The local airport hosted 12,696 commercial flights in the first quarter of the year, an increase of 9.8 pct year-on-
year. Movements to and from Taiwan and mainland China increased by 3.9 and 4 pct respectively, while those to and from Vietnam (806) rose more than threefold.

Green light to 200 more taxi licenses

The government has given the green light to the allocation of 200 more taxi licenses, according to yesterday’s Official Gazette. From here, the Transport Bureau will be able to launch a public tender. DSAT said in a statement that it will continue to assess public demand for taxi services, and will grant more taxi licenses to meet the needs of residents and tourists in a timely manner.