Transportation in Hong Kong

 According to the Hong Kong Transport Department, Hong Kong is a place with a land area of only 1,105 square kilometres but has a population of more than seven million. Every day, over 12.6 million passenger take a public transport system including railways, trams, buses, minibuses, taxis and ferries. Everyday, there are about 347 licensed public transports for every kilometre of road which is quite busy.

MTR

Hong Kong's railways are run by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL). MTR is the most popular public transport for everyone because it is safe, efficient, reliable, comfortable and environmentally friendly mass carriers. They are the backbone of Hong Kong's public transport system which account for about 41% of all trips made on public transport each day.The total route length is about 187 km with 93 stations.

BUS SERVICES

The bus service of Hong Kong can be roughly divided into 3 types: Franchised bus, Nonfranchised bus and Public light bus(mini-buses). 

Franchised bus:

  There are 5 privately owned bus companies that provide franchised bus service across Hong Kong, operating more than 700 routes with some 5,800 buses. Moreover, Hong Kong is one of the few places in the world that bus services are not operated or owned by the Government. Those five operators including Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited, Citybus Limited, Long Win Bus Company Limited, New World First Bus Services Limit, New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited.

Non-franchised buses

  The non-franchised bus services of Hong Kong are provided by different private bus companies as a means to relieve or help to solve the demand on franchised buses and green public minibuses in rush hour. According to the Transport Department, there were 8111 registered non-franchised buses in Hong Kong as of 13 March 2014. Basically, it is mostly free which serving for tourists or residents.

Public light buses

 

  

  The public light buses in Hong Kong are passenger transport vehicles (minibuses) with a capacity of 16 passengers. There are 4,350 minibuses in Hong Kong and this figure has been capped by the Transport Department as available licenses. There is two types of mini-buses including red mini-buses and green mini-buses, The red public minibuses do not need to operate on fixed routes or fixed schedules and may charge any fare desired, while the green public minibuses operate on fixed routes in set frequencies stipulated by the Transport Department of Hong Kong.

TAXI

 In Hong Kong, taxis are classified as three areas taxi due to the geography of Hong Kong. Hence, there are Kowloon(urban taxi), New Territories taxi and Lantau taxi. At present there are 18,163 taxis in Hong Kong, of which 15,250 are urban taxis (red), 2,838 are New Territories taxis (green) and 75 are Lantau taxis (blue). The average daily taxi patronage is near 1 million. Different taxis have designated operating areas. Urban taxis operate in most areas in Hong Kong (except Tung Chung Road and roads in south Lantau). New Territories taxis mainly operate in the north-eastern part (i.e. north of Sha Tin) and north-western part (i.e. north of Tsuen Wan) of the New Territories. Lantau taxis operate only on Lantau Island and Chek Lap Kok. All taxis are allowed to provide services at the passenger terminals of Hong Kong International Airport and Hong Kong Disneyland.

Ferries

  Nowadays there are 11 ferry operators providing 18 licensed passenger ferry services to outlying islands and across the Harbor. In 2010, ferry passengers amounted to 49 million. However, it is not the that famous for people take it to go to work because of the time even though it is the cheapest price among the other transportation. Therefore, it is mainly used by tourists. The price of it is around 10 Hong Kong dollars. 

Tram

  Tram is a historical transportation in Hong Kong, it has been operating on Hong Kong Island since 1904, the Hong Kong Tramways Limited operates seven routes on 13 kilometres of double track along the northern shore of Hong Kong Island between Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan, and about three km of single track around Happy Valley. Tram is one of the cheapest transportation in Hong Kong, the cost of it is $2.3 HK dollar for adults, $1.2 HK dollar  for children under 12 and $1.1 HK dollar senior citizens aged 65 or above.