Hong Kong will allow several hundred private cars from mainland China and Macau to enter the city via a mega bridge starting as early as the end of the year, with the transport minister telling the Post that he wanted a ‘smaller-scale’ launch for the new border-crossing policy.
In a wide-ranging interview, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung revealed on Thursday that the much-awaited “Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles” scheme will have more than 1,000 automated car parking spaces located on the artificial island of the Hong Kong border of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, upon the completion of the first stage of the scheme.
Lam no longer mentioned plans for 6,000 car parking spaces to be made available at the facility, a proposal he previously discussed in March.
“We want to start it off with a smaller scale,” he said. “If demand is good, we will map out our next step of the development. I expect it will be popular.”
The scheme has been on the drawing board for years as a key feature of the one-hour living circle vision in the Greater Bay Area, an emerging economic zone consisting of Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong.
Lam said the debut of the scheme could be at the end of this year or early next year.
The scheme offers visitors from Macau and Guangdong province the option to drive to Hong Kong, park at an automated car park on the artificial island, then take a coach to the city’s airport for overseas destinations, or enter via the bridge checkpoint.
“It will save travellers a lot of time, and offer them new experiences,” Lam said.
The scheme will confine vehicles to the 55km (34 mile) Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, which is among the world’s longest bridge-tunnel systems consisting of two artificial islands on Hong Kong and the mainland.
The parking arrangement means drivers will not be allowed to drive around Hong Kong, which will ease traffic pressure in the city.
A similar measure known as the “Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles” scheme, which allows Hong Kong drivers to drive their cars to Guangdong, marked its first anniversary on July 1.
During the year, more than 64,000 Hong Kong vehicles joined the scheme, which meant about one in every seven qualified vehicles obtained permits.
Requirements for the northbound scheme have recently been relaxed. For example, the valid period of the permit was extended to 60 days from 30 days.
The number of vehicle inspection centres has been raised to three from one, while service hours of these sites were extended to evenings and weekends.
Since the bridge opened for traffic in 2018, more than 10 million vehicle trips in either direction have been recorded as of April.
