Get familiar with public transportation of Hong Kong for your trip. There are close to 7 million people in this city. Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. If you own a car or are riding a taxi, you will run into traffic jams like in any large city. However, Hong Kong has various transportation options such as trams, buses, mini-buses, ferries and trains which make it really easy to get around. In fact, Hong Kong has one of the most efficient transportation systems in the world with 80% of its residents using it. Let’s see what it is like to ride on the local train here called the MTR. When using the MTR, you can buy a single journey ticket or a one day pass. Although there are many ticket attendants at all the stations, using the automatic ticket machine is really easy. Here we are at Sheung Wan MTR station and need to go to the Mong Kok station. On this machine, I simply select my destination, it tells me the price, 11 dollars, I put in the money here and I have my ticket. If I do not have change, there is another ticketing option here. This is one of the greatest conveniences of Hong Kong for a local or a tourist, and that is the Octopus card. It is an electronically stored money card which is accepted on trains, trams, buses, ferries and even convenience stores such as 7-Eleven and Circle K. You can buy them at any MTR station or you can also buy them at convenience stores such as 7-Eleven and Circle K. If you have a ticket, you enter it …
Posts Tagged ‘Kong’
Public Transportation (Hong Kong, China)
Saturday, October 15th, 2011The Public Transport of Hong Kong
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010Despite being under British rule until 1997, Hong Kong has one of the world’s most sophisticated public transport systems and the highest percentage of daily journeys made by public means in the world. One of the most innovative methods of transport is the Central-Mid-Levels escalator. The escalator, built to combat the steep, hilly terrain of Hong Kong Island, is 800 metres long with a vertical climb of 135 metres. Without walking to speed up the journey, a trip from one end to the other takes 20 minutes. The escalators run downhill from 6am to 10am and uphill from 10. 30am to midnight, to aid people going to and from work. Hong Kong, of course, has some of the more traditional modes of public transport. Its efficient tramways date back from the turn of the 20th century and now feature exclusively double-decker trams. The bus systems runs a predominantly double-decker service, with five companies operating a franchised service. There are also public light buses available which can go to areas the larger buses cannot reach. Similar to minibuses, these contraptions can hold 16 passengers and are often more frequent, more direct and quicker than the standard bus lines. The public transport system was greatly aided in ‘97 by the introduction of the Octopus Card. This card was the first contactless payment system in the world and was initially used to make quick payments for transport tickets; it has now been rolled out for use in supermarkets, at vending machines and restaurants among other shops. The mass transit railway consists of ten lines with a total of 82 railway stations and 68 light rail stops. Eight of these lines act as regular train services while the other two offer direct services – one to Hong Kong Disneyland and the other to the airport – ideal for those leaving the country and for those who have just arrived on flights to Hong Kong. People do also own their own cars, with around half a million in Hong Kong. Most cars can be found in the newly developed areas near the Chinese border as there are few public transport options available. Per capita, the number of cars in Hong Kong works out as half that of Singapore and a third of Taiwan’s figure. Because of the previous British rule, cars in Hong Kong are right hand drive models. Ferries are also prevalent because of Hong Kong’s many islands, as well as external trips linking Hong Kong to many of the nearby islands.