More HZMB buses to be deployed

The operator of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge shuttle bus services will increase the number of buses to more than 150 during the weekend to ease the increasing passengers to the newly opened mega bridge, the Transport Department announced on Friday.

The operator will also get extra help from some crossboundary coach companies on Sunday, the department said.

The enhanced services come after long queues were seen at HZMB’s Hong Kong Port last Sunday evening. At the time, hundreds of passengers waited in line for more than an hour, trying to get on a shuttle bus to take to Zhuhai or Macao.

According to Deputy Commissioner of the Transport Department Lee Sui-chun, the shuttle bus operator, HZMB Shuttle Bus, will increase its number of buses from 120 to 138 immediately; it will also deploy another 20 to 30 rented buses during the weekend.

To further separate tour groups with individual travelers during peak hours, crossboundary coach operators will provide extra booking services for tour groups from 4:30 pm to 9 pm on Sunday, Lee said.

The service will be equivalent to the current shuttle bus — it picks up passengers at Hong Kong Port, and drops them off at the ports of Zhuhai or Macao — without crossing any boundaries. Originally, cross-boundary coach companies only provided direct trips between a stop at one city to a stop at another.

Lee said that during peak hours on weekends it could provide 24 coach trips every hour — carrying some 5,000 passengers.

All extra buses will be singledeckers with about 50 seats. If three or four buses depart every five minutes, the frequency could be 40 to 60 shifts per route per hour, explained Lee.

Zhang Guangyou, chairman of HZMB Shuttle Bus, said the company has hired 54 new drivers, and will purchase more double-decker buses to further boost capacity.

According to data collected last weekend, the peak period of boundary crossings was 10-12am and 6-8pm. The Transport Department appealed to the public to avoid these peak hours.

Relevant parties also vowed to closely monitor the traffic demand and further improve transport services if needed.

HZMB welcomed its first tourism peak last weekend, when the Hong Kong Port recorded that about 78,000 people crossed the boundary last Sunday.

After the 55-km bridge opened to traffic on Oct 24, shuttle bus which takes 40 minutes and HK$65 per trip has become the most popular way for the public to enjoy their ride on the world’s longest sea span.