Transport advisor: HK vehicles to mainland should not hit Macau hard

Additional vehicles from Hong Kong to mainland China under a new travel scheme should not heavily impact Macau’s traffic, Government Transport Affairs advisor Wong Man Pan said.

The northbound travel scheme for Hong Kong vehicles will be enacted in July, months later than the counterpart scheme in Macau. Current announcements available state that all these vehicles must travel to mainland China through Zhuhai using the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.

On concerns over the extra burden at the Macau Border Checkpoint, Wong told local media Macao Daily News he did not expect excessive pressure on Macau, as most of these vehicles would travel straight to Zhuhai.

Unless prior approval is obtained, vehicles on the northbound travel scheme will only be allowed to enter mainland China but not Macau.

He did not believe the Zhuhai Border Checkpoint would become overcrowded with travelers and vehicles since the area is large, adding that the impression of congested traffic was caused by excess traffic on the Macau side.

In addition, during the early phase of the Hong Kong scheme, there will only be a daily quota of 300 vehicles. He expressed confidence that Zhuhai authorities would open more lanes to streamline traffic.

On the scheme in Macau, the traffic advisor suggests the government open same-day booking to fill the quota. He explained that on average days there are unused bookings in the daily quota of 2,000 vehicles. With same-day booking, these places will be utilized and thus not be wasted. AL