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Harvey Kong

About 600 motorists from Guangdong province have driven their vehicles into Hong Kong’s urban areas during the Lunar New Year holiday under a new scheme that has so far attracted 3,000 applications, according to the transport minister.
Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said on Saturday that the number of weekend drivers was, on average, nearly at capacity while weekday slots were also “pretty well” filled, depending on whether any major events were taking place in Hong Kong.
“During the Lunar New Year period, it is a long holiday on the mainland, so we found the number of applications very positive, which matches our expectations,” she said. “We are very happy to see the scheme doing well in its initial stage.”
She added that the government would first consolidate the foundation of the scheme before reviewing the quota, which is currently set at 100 vehicles per day.
Launched in late December last year, the Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles (Entry into Urban Area) scheme allows approved private cars from the neighbouring province to enter Hong Kong directly via the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge.
Under the scheme, motorists can stay for up to three days.
Chan said the city government had received 3,000 applications for the initiative so far, with 1,700 motorists having already booked trips.
Of those, 600 Guangdong drivers have made their journeys, taking advantage of the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday in mainland China.
The minister added that more than half of the 1,700 bookings under the scheme were for stays of one to two nights.
Asked whether authorities would consider expanding the quota, Chan said they hoped to first manage the current daily quota effectively and introduce better traffic diversion measures.
“We will closely review the situation as we aim to lay a solid foundation, so the scheme can progress more smoothly,” she said.

The transport minister also said that most drivers under the scheme had adhered to the scheme’s requirements and complied with Hong Kong laws, with only a few cases of infractions recorded in the first two weeks of the policy’s launch.
“Actually, we have followed up on cases of infractions in an appropriate amount of time. We will inform drivers through electronic warnings where we ask them to ensure that they adhere to regulations,” she said.
Chan noted that there had been some cases of drivers illegally using autonomous driving systems in Hong Kong, with authorities contacting the motorists involved and issuing them warnings.
“In this period of time, especially during Lunar New Year, we have seen quite a lot of applicants driving their vehicles to Hong Kong. We did not see any obvious accidents or incidents overall in terms of road safety,” she said.
A video showing a driver under the scheme switching to automatic cruising in Hong Kong previously circulated on popular online platforms RedNote and Facebook.
In the video, the man can be seen taking his hands off the steering wheel of his car as he travels along the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.
The vehicle, a P7 sedan by mainland electric vehicle maker Xpeng, can be controlled by the Navigation Guided Pilot system, an autonomous driving feature.
The transport minister also said the mega bridge recorded a new high of 27,000 vehicle trips in a single day on February 19.
About 100,000 vehicle trips were made on the bridge over the past five days, with an average of 21,000 cars per day, about 25 per cent more than during the same period last year, she noted.
“In the days ahead, we hope to make better use of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge,” she said.
Immigration Department data showed that from February 13 to Friday, about 3.2 million Hongkongers made trips out of the city. Visitors, including those from the mainland and elsewhere, made 1.5 million inbound trips, according to the figures.
This year, residents were able to take two weekdays off to merge the city’s three-day Lunar New Year break and the weekends before and after into a nine-day holiday.
Additional reporting by Wynna Wong


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News

Hong Kong

Transport

Transport minister Mable Chan says government has received 3,000 applications for the scheme so far, with 1,700 motorists already booking trips


Transport minister Mable Chan says government has received 3,000 applications for the scheme so far, with 1,700 motorists already booking trips.


Hong Kong tourism

Mable Chan

600 Guangdong drivers enter Hong Kong as thousands apply for new scheme

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Transport minister Mable Chan says government has received 3,000 applications for the scheme so far, with 1,700 motorists already booking trips

Transport minister Mable Chan says government has received 3,000 applications for the scheme so far, with 1,700 motorists already booking trips