The massive influx of mainland and Hong Kong tourists for the International Labour Day celebrations proved once again that Macau urgently needs to upgrade its public transport system to cope with the seemingly ever-growing number of visitors.
Just in the first two days of the mainland's Golden Week holidays, Macau logged 250,000 border crossings by both visitors and residents, a mind-boggling figure, considering that it corresponds to more than half its total population.


Many residents think that a comprehensive metro railway system is the best way to tackle Macau's transport woes. The crucial question is, of course, whether it should be an underground or overground system, or a combination of both.

The government has pledged to consult the public, following the publication of feasibility studies on the mammoth project's technical, financial and environmental implications.

Macau's public transport still depends on just 750 taxis and 550 public buses catering for the needs of 448,000 residents, and a daily average of 40,000 visitor arrivals, many of whom are bussed around in coaches that often clog up access to the city's old quarters and main tourist spots.

The crux is that Macau has the dubious honour of reputedly having the world's highest vehicle density per sq km. In March, the 26.8 sq km enclave had 134,009 vehicles, half of them motorcycles, or 5,000 vehicles per sq km. Urban myth has it that it would be practically impossible for all the vehicles to drive around the city at the same time. In fact, many vehicles seem to be parked somewhere, usually along the kerbs, most of the time.

The construction of an elevated railway, proposed by a Hong Kong company two years ago, has been widely criticised for its "eyesore" impact on Macau's unique landscape. The construction of an underground metro would avoid disfiguring Macau's architectural heritage, even though its realisation might prove more expensive and technically more difficult.

However, no financial and technical efforts should be spared to ensure that Macau's singular urban patrimony - one of its main tourist attractions - is maintained intact.

A number of cities rich in history, such as Lisbon and Nanjing, have chosen metro systems that are mostly underground as the best way of both respecting their architectural heritage and providing visitors and residents with efficient public transport. Macau could also learn from the experience of the renovation of subway lines in Lisbon and Beijing, where artistic murals and other cultural artefacts have become integral parts of many stations.

it's a very good idea....
but most people dont think macau can build a metro system

Macau is too small to build a metro system .. buses are suffiicent for the needs. So i think it's no point to build a metro system

Macau's Transportation

Railways: 0 km

Highways: total: 50 km paved: 50 km unpaved: 0 km (1996 est.)

Ports and harbors: Macau

Merchant marine: none (1999 est.)

Airports: 1 (1999 est.)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (1999 est.)

Macau's Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 222,500 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 55,000 (1998)

Telephone system: fairly modern communication facilities maintained for domestic and international services domestic: NA international: HF radiotelephone communication facility; access to international communications carriers provided via Hong Kong and China; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios: 160,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 0 (receives Hong Kong broadcasts) (1997)

Televisions: 49,000 (1997)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): CTM

Roads and Bridges

Macau has 321 kilometers of public roads. Two highway bridges link Macau to Zhuhai, the most recent of which, the 1.3-kilometer-long, six-lane Lotus Bridge, opened in December 1999. Two bridges link peninsular Macau with Taipa. The first, a 2.6 kilometer-long highway bridge, was completed in 1974; the second, completed in 1994 to serve the new Macau International Airport, is 4.4 kilometers long and four lanes wide. An eight-kilometer-long dual-lane highway links the airport and the Zhuhai border crossing. Taipa is connected to Coloane with a 2.2-kilometer-long causeway. The 38-kilometer-long connector, to be called the Lingdingyang Bridge, has been proposed to link Macau and Zhuhai with Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Buses and numerous taxicabs provide public transportation. Motorists in 1999 used some 55,114 automobiles and trucks and 58,116 motorcycles.

Highways:
total:50 km
paved: 50 km
unpaved: 0 km (1996 est.)

Sea Transportation

Jetfoils, turbo catamarans, and catamarans operate between the Macau Maritime Terminal and Hong Kong (Central or Kowloon, depending on type of craft). The trip between Macau and Hong Kong takes between 55 and 70 minutes depending on the type of craft. About 150 trips per day are made between Macau and Hong Kong. The Macau Maritime Terminal is located on the east shore of the Macau Peninsula (Macau outer harbor). The Macau Container Port, located near the Macau International Airport, was opened in 1991. Vessels leaving the port provide multiple daily round trips to Hong Kong and regular container ship service to Taiwan, Singapore, and to Chinese ports within the Zhujiang estuary. Macau's shallow harbor and channels, however, limit the size and number of ships that can enter the port.

Ports and harbors: Macau

Merchant marine: none (1999 est.)

Air Transportation

Airports:1 (1999 est.) Airports - with paved runways: Macau International Airport
total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (1999 est.)

The Macau International Airport opened in December 1995 on reclaimed land on the east side of Taipa. It handles commercial and general aviation and accommodates all major aircraft up to Boeing 747-400s. There are two offshore runways (3,285 meters and 3,360 meters) and one taxiway (1,460 meters). Up to 6 million passengers per year capacity is available. Air Macau (established 1994 with 51 percent ownership by China) and more than twenty other airlines provide international flights to and from Singapore, Manila, Bangkok, Pyongyang, Anchorage, and Los Angeles; and domestic flights to and from Taiwan (Taipei and Kaohsiung), Beijing, Chongqing, Fuzhou, Guilin, Haikou, Kunming, Nanjing, Ningbo, Sanya, Shanghai, Wuhan, Xiamen, Xi'an, and ZhengzhouAround 200 flights are scheduled per week. Helicopter service is available every 30 minutes during the day from the Macau Maritime Terminal to central Hong Kong.

By 家興
http://www.qoos.com/photos/data/2/3589242370010_.jpg

New ferry terminal to boost airport
Zach Coleman, Hong Kong Standard
July 22, 2005

Taipa Island's new ferry terminal will provide a big boost to traffic through Macau International Airport, aviation executives say.

The government last month awarded a 499.8 million pataca (HK$485.2 million) contract for the terminal's construction to a consortium between China Road & Bridge and local companies Sociedade de Construcoes e Fomento Predial de Macau and Obras de Construcao Wa Kin over 15 rival bids. Wa Kin has been reclaiming 106,000 square meters of land for the terminal under a separate contract.

The terminal, targeted to open late next year, will feature eight ship berths, four fewer than the existing Hong Kong ferry terminal on the Macau peninsula. No route plans are set, but Greek Mythology (Macau) Entertainment Group has expressed interest in serving the terminal from the pier it is reconstructing in Tuen Mun in northwest Hong Kong.

Greek Mythology's casino in the New Century Hotel in Taipa forms a small cluster with the Hyatt Regency casino hotel and the HK$1.5 billion Park Hyatt casino hotel under construction, but Shun Tak Holdings, Macau's dominant ferry operator, declined to comment on the new terminal though its sister companies control the two casinos.

Josephine Lam, a spokeswoman for New World First Ferry Macau, called the new terminal a positive development but added, "It's a bit too early to say whether we would have service to that pier."

An affiliate of New World, which sails to Kowloon, is developing a casino hotel on the Macau peninsula.

The terminal is intended in part to serve the massive casino resorts under development in the Cotai reclamation area south of Taipa, said Office of Infrastructure Development director Antonio Jose Castanheira Lourenco.

John Chan, executive director of Macau International Airport, said he expects the terminal to be linked to Shenzhen and other Pearl River Delta ports by a network comparable to that of SkyPier at Hong Kong International Airport. SkyPier is linked to Macau, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Shekou and Shenzhen airport and handled 512,000 travelers between January and May.

Few people are traveling by ferry to Macau for flights now, even with the introduction of the Express Link shuttle from the Hong Kong ferry terminal in December, Chan said, since it operates just five times a day.

The Taipa terminal will be adjacent to the Macau airport. "It's going to help us a lot," said Jean Chang, executive vice-president for North Asia for budget carrier AirAsia. Most people flying into Macau with the airline are heading toward other Delta cities, he said, meaning that better connections should add to demand.

"I think people will travel an hour for a cheaper ticket," said the airport's Chan.

Andrew Pyne, chief executive of start-up carrier Wow Macau, said the new terminal is key to the airline's business plan, which counts on at least a third of passengers coming over from Hong Kong for flights.

"It's hugely significant," he said. "It makes Macau airport very competitive compared with Hong Kong International."

I think a monorail could do the trick similar to those in Sydney and Seattle...

there's a plan on building a subway system in macau
but its too expensive and some people against the plan, so the project is postponed

This free bus travel campaign is held by the two Macau Bus Companies, Transmac and TCM, and sponsered by the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (Direcção dos Serviços de Solos, Obras Públicas e Transporte, DSSOPT) of the Macau SAR Gov. The goal of this campaign is to encourage the citizens to use the Public Transport and use less private transport to minimise the road traffic.

If you planned to travel Macau on those two days, try to travel by bus and you would like it! ;)

i saw this on the news last night,

the buses in macau are so small, looks like a small van, but they used to have a larger size bus few years ago and its a lot more comfortable, because the street is too narrow and they have to consider of the traffic, maybe thats the reason why those buses are not operating anymore.

i dont get used sit on the bus in macau and i feel quite dizzy when i sit on the bus, coz the driver drives too fast.

澳門航空去年業績創新高
2006-1-2

【大公網訊】澳門航空公司去年客貨運業績都取得歷史最好成績，收入達到二十四億澳門元（約合三億美元），總乘客量超過兩百一十萬人次和十五萬噸貨物。

澳航董事會副主席兼執行董事會主席周光全表示，希望今年的業績能在去年的基礎上有百分之二十五至二十八的增長。

他表示，二零零五年由於增闢多條新航線和加密部分航點的班次，進一步整頓了公司內部架構，從而大大提高了員工士氣；雖然受到國際油價不斷飆升影響，但去年仍完成訂下的營運目標。

他說，今年的客貨運會有進一步發展，在客運方面，短期內擬增開杭州、三亞、貴陽和張家界等中國大陸航線。

為配合客運業務的拓展，他說，今年將引進兩架座位數為兩百七十個的空中巴士A300-600型廣體客機，其中一架於今年五月投入營運，另一架將在今年年底抵澳門，如果這兩架客機的營運效果理想，下一步將引進更多的廣體飛機投入航線。

Actually, Macau Peninsula is too difficult to build a large underground metro, as many of the roads are too narrow and there are many residents buildings along them. Also, they have to perserved the historical buildings as well.

May be a light rail is much more suitable for Macau. :|

Viva Macau plans flights to Hawaii and Russia
Bloomberg
20 January 2006

Viva Macau, a low-cost airline based in the former Portuguese colony, said Thursday that it planned to start flights to Hawaii and Russia, becoming the first Asian low-fare carrier to express interest in flying to the two destinations.

The carrier is also planning flights to northeast Asia, including Japan and South Korea, as well as Australia, the Middle East, and Europe, the airline's chief executive, Andrew Pyne, said. The airline plans to start Asian flights in June before expanding to the Middle East and Europe.

Teledifusao De Macau (TDM) reported yesterday (2/17/2005) that one of the bus company in Macau (Transmac?) would like to operate the overnight bus service. It's still cannot be enforced because of insufficient bus drivers. The news also telling the responsiblity for the insurance after the bus accidents and the bus transfer services in Macau. You may refer the news videos below for more details. :|

mms://202.175.80.18/tdmvideo/17/8b.asf (Cantonese news)
mms://202.175.80.18/tdmvideo/eng_news/17/e1b.asf (English news between 3:10-5:25 mins)
mms://202.175.80.18/tdmvideo/port_news/17/3b.asf (Portuguese news)

You may watch the news from the TDM for why an express route is needed: :|

Cantonese News with Chinese Subtitles (mms://202.175.80.18/tdmvideo/22/4b.asf)

Portuguese News (mms://202.175.80.18/tdmvideo/port_news/22/3b.asf)

English News (Between 5:03-5:33) (mms://202.175.80.18/tdmvideo/eng_news/22/e1b.asf)

and when will see a route between macau and hkg ...
its less than 30km ...
stupid politics

and when will see a route between macau and hkg ...
its less than 30km ...
stupid politics

We gotta wait the finalization of the HK-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge! :eek2:

Its not easy to see all the parts extremely happy. I saw people happy and people unhappy.

Wouldn't be much better to build a light rail in Macau? :|

Macau Government will built a Metro.

New Macau Bus Line, MT1, Macau-Taipa Express, operated by both Transmac and TCM.

Photos from DY8711 in hkitalk.net,
MT1, Macau-Taipa Express (http://hkitalk.net/HKiTalk2/viewthread.php?tid=91378&extra=page%3D1)

i prefer to see some overnight bus routes tho

i prefer to see some overnight bus routes tho

Unfortunately, there're no overnight bus routes in Macau. :ohno:

According to the TDM news, the taxi fare would be raise next Monday (July 17, 2006). The new taxi fare is from 10 patacas to 11 patacas at the beginning, and every 1 pataca rise every 180 meters or 50 seconds, instead of currently every 200 meters or 1 minute. Be aware of the new taxi fare from next Monday!

prefer to see some overnight bus routes tho

Unfortunately, there're no overnight bus routes in Macau. :ohno:

The MSAR Gov't now authorizes the Macau Polytechnic Institute for having a research for the overnight bus service in Macau. You may fill in the survey here (Chinese only) (http://www.ipm.edu.mo/banners/questionnarie.pdf) and send it to the Institute. You may read this survery in details in Chinese (http://www.gov.mo/egi/Portal/rkw/public/view/showcomp.jsp?id=InfoShowTemp&docid=c373e90f39202b128f7e99b0c6ebd414) and in Portuguese (http://www.gov.mo/egi/Portal/rkw/public/view/showcomp.jsp?id=InfoShowTemp&docid=c373e90f39202a0c8f7e99b0c6ebd414).

DSSOPT and IPM should work together to boost this opportunity. Overnight bus routes in Macau are necessary.

DSSOPT and IPM should work together to boost this opportunity. Overnight bus routes in Macau are necessary.

If there're really overnight bus routes for Macau, I would suggest at least three routes (As I'm not a Macau resident! :lol: ): Macau Peninsula Circular , Macau Downtown route from Porto Barrier to Hotel Lisboa and one Macau-Taipa route (optional for which Macau-Taipa Bridge).

Fare: 3 MOP for just Macau Peninsula or on Taipa, 4-4.5 MOP for crossing the Bridge (Monthly Cards, Smart Cards, HKD and RMB are also accepted. Extra fees for Day Tickets).

You should send you proposal to DSSOPT :D

If there're really overnight bus routes for Macau, I would suggest at least three routes (As I'm not a Macau resident! :lol: ): Macau Peninsula Circular , Macau Downtown route from Porto Barrier to Hotel Lisboa and one Macau-Taipa route (optional for which Macau-Taipa Bridge).

Fare: 3 MOP for just Macau Peninsula or on Taipa, 4-4.5 MOP for crossing the Bridge (Monthly Cards, Smart Cards, HKD and RMB are also accepted. Extra fees for Day Tickets).

I thought HKD has been generally accepted for a long time. It won't take long for RMB to be another acceptable currency in Macau.:)

an underground system would be just great

an underground system would be just great

It will be made. The question is when. I believe we will see it before 2009.

i wish there is a overnight bus route from downtown macau to Hac Sa beach :D

i think its necessary to have a overnight bus route runs in macau across the three islands, you dont want to be stuck in one of the island after midnight, right?

at the moment the only choice is the catch the taxi, thats what i did when i want to go home after midnight in macau

Is it the problem of the number of people and/or the traffic jam? I guess a light rail system will help.:)

People in Macau are getting more and more difficult to get on a bus, according to a newspaper report.

Jornal Va Kio reported that passengers may have to wait more than 20 minutes to board on a bus at a terminus at peak hours.

For passengers at other bus stops, they may have to wait for half an hour for a bus, according to a passenger who told the newspaper.

The situation becomes worse with more builders using bus services.

The paper pointed out that this will damage Macau's image as a city of tourism, and express hopes that bus companies can make services more frequent, and set up intermediary routes for passengers travelling within the main city centres.

Meanwhile, the Judiciary Police arrested a 43-year-old man from Guangxi in connection with pickpoceting on a bus.

It was the victim who reported to the Police about the incident, and no one on the bus was willing to become witness.

A lightrail system wil probally resolve the traffic problem in this case hopefully, since it can take up more passengers compare to buses,

Great point! This will be the bottleneck.

We have written many times that this is a becoming serious issue which is being addressed very slowly. For example just take the Hong Kong-Zuhai-Macau bridge that still seems to go nowhere, Macau Airport that needs to double capacity, the ferry from Tuen Mun to Macau, the light rail system, etc. Of course Standard and Poor’s now are taking note and reporting on this, they just seem to focus on the Cotai Strip, but this really applies to the whole of Macau!

Thanks to MacauHub | The development of infrastructures in Macau, particularly a transport network, will underpin the success of the region’s Cotai projects over the next few year, said Standard and Poor’s (S&P) in its risk assessment of the Macau gambling and gaming sector.

Cotai (Coloane and Taipa) is the landfill area between the two islands where are number of casinos and tourist resorts are currently being built.

Mentioning the expansion of the sea terminals, the airport and construction of a metro system as key projects, the S&P analyst said the lack of a proper transport network would have a negative impact on the tourists that visit Macau and thus lower the number of gamblers.

S&P said that the number of visitors to Macau was expected to continue growing due to the increasing prestige of the territory, the lifting of travel restrictions and increased income in China as well as the fact that Macau is the only place in the whole of China where gambling is legal.

The analysts said that gaming and gambling competition from other Asian countries could have negative implications for Macau, but added that due to the origins of most of Macau’s gamblers – mainland China and Hong Kong – regional competition would have a reduced impact.

It would be worse if China legalized gambling or if the Macau government granted new licenses.

But China has no plans to legalize gambling on the mainland and the Macau government has already said it has no plans to sell additional gaming licenses before April 2009, at the earliest.

According to the S&P analyst fundamentals for Macau’s six operators remain strong with turnover totaling US$5.8 billion in 2005 and US$6.4 billion in the first 11 months of 2006, and are expected to have exceeded turnover in Las Vegas last year and is forecast to reach US$10 billion in 2010.

To conclude, S&P said that despite all the potential risks and uncertainties, investor feeling remained strong, which was reflected by the entry if Melco PBL on the United States stock market, and the issuing of shares by Las Vegas Sands Corp.

New Macau-Taipa Express MT3! :okay:
MSAR Press Releases:
政府下月試行澳氹快線MT3 (http://www.gov.mo/egi/Portal/rkw/public/view/showcomp.jsp?id=InfoShowTemp&docid=c373e910dfb8c5b58f6e507d204d89ae)

A carreira expresso Macau-Taipa MT3 criado pela Administração entrará em funcionamento a título experimental a partir do próximo mês (http://www.gov.mo/egi/Portal/rkw/public/view/showcomp.jsp?id=InfoShowTemp&docid=c373e910dfb8e57c8f6e507d204d89ae)

(English Version will be available later)

The concessions to the two bus operators in Macau will be terminated by 15 October 2008, confirmed an official.

Secretary for Transport and Public Works Lao Si Io (劉仕堯) told journalists before setting off for site visits to France yesterday (16 September) that a review will be undertaken on the future operations of bus services and the modes of concessions.

Notifications will be sent to Transmac and TCM within this month.

No decisions have been made yet on whether new operators will be introduced.

Lao pointed out that regardless of the operation and concession models of bus services, the policy of giving priority to public transport must be adhered.

An assessment regime will be set up to provide checks on the service quality of buses, including the protection of consumer rights.

Lao also said that clarifications will be made by the agencies concerned on the recent accusation of “collusion” with bus operators on the concessions of monthly passes to the elderly people.

source (http://www.blogmacau.info/blog/?p=1796)

The Government explained that bus operators offering half price to elderly people when purchasing their monthly bus passes are ‘not their obligations’.

The acting chief of the Transport Department of the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT), Cheong Ion Man (張潤民), said in a press conference that the half price concessions is thanks to the bus operators participating in the Elderly Card scheme, which they decided to leave at the end of April, citing ‘operation pressures’.

The DSSOPT had told the two bus operators to put their decisions on hold, while formulating measures to allow elderly passengers to receive more concessions on bus fares.

Because the Elderly Card concession is withdrawn, the Government has to subsidise the full amount of the cost of the monthly bus pass, minus MOP20 which the passengers themselves have to pay.

The Government estimates that about 8,000 to 10,000 qualified passengers will purchase the new passes.

Cheong also pointed out that the decision to terminate the monopoly contracts with Transmac and TCM will provide room to regulate them to assume more social responsibility.

Legislators, including Kwan Tsui Hang (關翠杏), Ng Kuok Cheong (吳國昌) and Leong Heng Teng (梁慶庭), welcomed the Government’s decision to terminate the monopoly contracts.

Kwan and Ng expressed concerns that measures must be planned beforehand on the future of drivers should the existing bus operators are to be dissolved.

Kwan pointed out that the new bus operation contracts should be granted by open tender.

Leong Heng Teng said that there needed discussions on the future models of operation of buses, so that it can respond to the future developments of Macau.

source (http://www.blogmacau.info/blog/?p=1800)

One hundred and fifty taxi licences are set to be issued this month which will raise the total number of taxis running in Macau to almost 1,000, director of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) Tam Vai Man announced yesterday.

Speaking to the local media at the Sao Domingos Activity Centre, Senado Square, ahead of a community meeting, Mr Tam said 150 four-seating taxi licences will be issued in a eight-year term.

After studying the opinions collected from the taxi industry and other related government bureaus such as the traffic department, Mr Tam said regulations are expected to release in the coming two weeks, followed by a public bidding process.

“We hope to accelerate the procedures in order to have these additional taxis in operation as soon as possible so that the current severe shortage of taxis can be alleviated,” the IACM director said.

Mr Tam said the taxi industry generally supported the move, but showed some concerns about the quality of road facilities and traffic control that was going to complement the change.

“Apart from increasing the number of taxis available in Macau, we need to improve the traffic conditions as well. By doing this, we can then truly accommodate the needs of the public,” he added.

After the taxis officially hit the road, Mr Tam said the IACM will closely look at the effectiveness and the social response.

If the increase is not sufficient to cope with the demand, he said the government is always willing to grant further taxi licences.

Asked if he was worried about the supply of taxi drivers to fill in the new places, he said the IACM has taken the human resources issue seriously into consideration before setting the number at 150.

Currently, there are 830 taxis operating in Macau. Of these, some 100 are yellow taxis.

About 7,000 taxi driver licences have been granted, however, only some 4,000 eligible drivers have renewed their licences regularly.

Mr Tam said the demand for taxis at night time is rising steadily, due to the introduction of the Traffic Law that increased the penalty of drink driving.

According to the IACM, some 700 taxi service complaints were received last year.

Between January and June this year, 600 complaints were filed.

Mr Tam said complaints from the public were, to some extent, inevitable as a result of the severe shortage of taxis travelling within the region.

http://www.macaudailyblog.com/

Just came back from Macau. It is just so difficult to get taxi. The city is really short of taxis so this is a good news.

On other note, the service level of the ferry from the terminal to Hong Kong International Airport is really poor. The ferry service is ok for day tripper but for someone to carry luggages, the experience at the ferry is pathetic.

I was just there a few days ago coming from a visit to Four Seasons Hotel (along the Cotai area). Looked for a taxi cab and was glad to find one and I told him to take me to Taipa (where my hotel is).

Strangely, my driver doesn't know where it is. Lolz, a taxi driver, who drives in Macau, doesn't even know where Taipa is.

Thankfully after ten minutes of asking another local to help him out, he then understood and thankfully, we made it back to my hotel.

I found it strange that he didn't know what "Taipa" is (considering he's a taxi driver lolz).:bash::lol:

I found it strange that he didn't know what "Taipa" is (considering he's a taxi driver lolz).:bash::lol:

I think "Taipa" is the Portugese name. The locals know it as "氹仔", which is pronounced like "Tam Zai".

Probably because your taxi driver is not a local but someone from mainland. It happened to me before.

Anyway you are right taxi drivers in Macau should have some compulsory English classes. It's not good for a city living on Tourism to have a taxi service where the Tourists have to speak in cantonese...

At the moment, at least 95% of the visitors to Macau speak some form of Chinese, but as Macau attracts more non Chinese speaking visitors, it will happenned (I hope), also remember, the average education level of Macau Taxi driver is probably less than primary school completion.

Time to change, time to educate...