Land Transport in Macao
Land Transport in Macao
LAM Soi Hoi and KU Weng Keong
Abstract
With limited land and manpower resources and a fast-growing economy in the past decade, Macao has
faced tremendous challenges in meeting its transport needs. To address the rapid growth in the number
of vehicles, increasing congestion and to ease road expansion, Macao’s land transport policy aims at the
“primacy of public transport”. Apart from improving road infrastructure and demand management
strategies, the focus of the Traffic Affairs Bureau (DSAT) is on developing rail transport as the core
transport mode because of its higher level of service, right-of-way, and possibility of better integration with
other transport modes to meet the demands of the land transport system, in terms of both quality and
quantity. Although still evolving, Macao’s experiences in addressing its transport needs present a good
case study for other similarly compact cities.
Figure 1: Map of Macao
Introduction
Macao is a compact city of about 30.4 km2
located on the south-eastern coast of China,
west of the Pearl River Delta, comprising the
Macao Peninsula, Taipa, Coloane and the
reclaimed land between them called Cotai
(Figure 1). Macao’s population in 2016 was
about 649,100, and it is among the most
densely populated urban areas in the world,
with 20,140 persons per square kilometre. Land
transport is the dominant mode of transport for
both domestic and regional travel. The land
transport system in Macao mainly comprises
road-based modes, including buses, taxis and
private vehicles.
Macao’s population in 2016 was about
649,100, and it is among the most
densely populated urban areas in the
world, with 20,140 persons per square
kilometre.
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Land Transport in Macao
The rapid development in the gaming industry
in the past 10 years, prompted the local
economy to expand rapidly. Macao’s GDP per
capita was MOP 565,301 (US$70,663) in 2015
(DSEC, 2016). Though this is 21.5% less than the
previous year, it is still many times higher than
what it was a decade ago. The effects of the
city’s rapid growth in the past still pose
problems to be tackled, especially in transport.
The tourism industry is centred on gaming,
which traditionally has been the economy’s
main driver. In terms of employment, gaming
and
junket,
hospitality,
catering
and
construction make up close to 50% of the total
work force in Macao. Foreign labour makes up
about 30% of the total workforce, with about
70% of foreign workers coming from the region
(DSEC, 2016).
Tourist demands on public transport are also
very high. Macao received about 30 million
visitors in 2015, roughly 47 times its population.
More than half of them made day trips. China,
followed by Hong Kong and Taiwan bring the
most visitors to Macao.
Tourist demands on public transport are
also very high. Macao received about 30
million visitors in 2015, roughly 47 times
its population.
The inbound and outbound traffic through all
border checkpoints numbered about 161
million in 2015. Land border checkpoints on
Macao Peninsula are the main point of entry for
both residents and tourists (Figure 2). More than
80% of them arrive overland, with about three_
Figure 2: Volume of traffic and growth at various checkpoints
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Land Transport in Macao
quarters of coming through the border north of
Macao Peninsula, neighbouring Gongbei,
Zhuhai. This checkpoint saw more than 120
million people crossing in 2015, making it the
busiest land border in Macao by far. In fact, it is
also the busiest land border in China, placing
tremendous pressure on Macao’s road network.
About 15% of cross-border journeys were made
by sea, with two-thirds coming from the outer
harbour ferry terminal on the peninsula. About
3% of cross-border journeys were made by air, a
mode of transport that saw a 15% growth in
2015. Continuing the pattern seen in previous
years, the Cross-Border Industrial Zone and the
Cotai Lotus checkpoints both registered
double-digit growth in 2016. Both checkpoints
only serve road traffic and are the only two
land borders that operate 24 hours a day.
Macao’s Land Transport Policy
In 2010 the Traffic Affairs Bureau (DSAT), the
authority regulating land transport in Macao,
announced the city’s first land transport plan.
The plan aims at building a city with green
transport that is suitable for both residents and
visitors by establishing the policy of “primacy of
public transport”. This is done by developing
transport facilities and enhancing services to
provide quality transport for residents and
visitors in new urban areas, old neighbourhoods
and the UNESCO historical centre, as well as
better managing the growth in private transport
(DSAT, 2010). In line with the land transport plan,
the city is developing a seamlessly connected
public transport that includes the development
of a Light Rapid Transit (LRT) network as the
main spine, supported by public buses, taxis
and walking. The plan is reviewed annually,
and its progress is monitored in annual reports.
In 2015, the land transport plan was revised in
line with Macao’s five-year development plan,
and a four-pronged strategy was adopted to
implement the land transport policy from 2016
to 2020 – to “optimize public transport, control
private
vehicles,
smoothen
roads
and
emphasize walking” (CCCMTL, 2015).
… a four-pronged strategy was adopted
to implement the land transport policy
from 2016 to 2020 – to “optimize public
transport, control private vehicles,
smoothen roads and emphasize
walking”
Current Status of Land Transport
Macao’s land transport systems are roadbased, which include buses, taxis, and private
vehicles, comprising mainly motorcycles and
motor vehicles, although there are also
privately run fixed-route buses serving popular
tourist spots in Macao, as well as trishaws which
also cater to tourists.
In 2015, Macao had a total of 323.8 km of
roads, or 427 km if the number of traffic lanes is
taken into account (DSCC, 2016). In addition,
there are three bridges linking Macao Peninsula
with Taipa, a tunnel through Guia Hill linking the
centre of the peninsula with the New Port Area
(NAPE), as well as a tunnel linking the University
of Macau campus on Hengqin Island (China)
with Macao. As seen in Figure 1, the
development of Macao’s road network is
saturated. With basically no available land at
present to expand roads on Macao Peninsula,
most of the increase in road length is
happening on the islands and on newly
_
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Land Transport in Macao
reclaimed land. Currently, 4.32 km2 or about
14% of the land area is already used for roads,
with a roughly equal proportion of roads in
Macao and Taipa. The density of roads is
roughly 10.6 km/ km2, and the growth rate for
roads in the past 10 years has been around
3.9% per annum, but most of the recent growth
in terms of length and area was in the
Taipa/Cotai areas and the University of Macau
campus (DSCC, 2016). It is expected that the
road network will be further expanded once
the new reclamation areas are completed and
the new township development is underway.
… the development of Macao’s road
network is saturated. With basically no
available land at present to expand roads
on Macao Peninsula, most of the
increase in road length is happening on
the islands and on newly reclaimed land.
Among the 389,600 employed persons in
Macao, 31% of them used public buses to go to
work, 27.9% walked, while the proportion of
those who used motorcycles or cars were 13.6%
and 10.8% respectively. Considering that half of
all households do not own vehicles, and more
than half of private vehicles are motorcycles,
over 60% of residents use public transport or
walk as their main form of travel (DSEC, 2016).
Public Transport
The “primacy of public transport”, in which
public buses are the predominant mode of
public transport, followed by taxis, has been the
core of Macao’s land transport policy. The LRT
system, currently under construction, will form
the backbone of public transport in the midterm to long-term.
_
The “primacy of public transport”, in
which public buses are the predominant
mode of public transport, followed by
taxis, has been the core of Macao’s land
transport policy.
Buses
There are 76 bus routes operated by three bus
companies with a total fleet size of 1,261 buses.
In 2015, about 540,000 passengers took buses
each day, and the projected daily ridership for
buses may reach 700,000 passengers per day.
Three of the most popular bus services are
those linking Macao Peninsula, Taipa and
Cotai, registering more than 30,000 passengers
each day, or about 20% of the daily total. This
also reflects the growing demand for trips
between Macao Peninsula and the island
consisting of Taipa and Cotai, due to the rapid
development there that is making the island a
major centre of employment Macao.
Considering that about half of all bus trips every
day is made along the western corridor of
Macao Peninsula, authorities began daily trail
operations for a bus lane connecting the Barra
area to the Lam Mau dock in July 2016. Its goal
is to increase the bus ridership by 10% along the
western corridor. The 1.5-km bus lane has three
segments and only operates during morning
and evening peak periods. Situated along
densely populated areas with heavy traffic,
only one lane in each direction is available for
use as a bus lane, and this is monitored through
a video surveillance system (Figure 3). Although
there have been complaints about the removal
of parking spaces and the blockage of
loading/unloading areas for businesses, initial
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Land Transport in Macao
Figure 4: Ponte Governador Nobre de Carvalho, a public-transportonly bridge
Figure 3: The Barra-Lam Mau bus lane
results have pointed to an increase in the
average speeds of buses. Besides the bus lane,
Ponte Governador Nobre de Carvalho has
been a public-transport-only bridge since 2005
(Figure 4). The two-way, two-lane bridge is the
oldest bridge connecting Macao and Taipa,
with a length of about 2.5 km. The bridge is
important as it also connects Tapia to Amaral
Interchange, the busiest bus interchange in
Macao.
In line with the “primacy of public transport”
policy, bus fares have been kept affordable
through government subsidies, and have been
remained unchanged for more than a decade
(Table 1). Macao uses a zone-based fare
scheme, with Macao Peninsula, Taipa/Cotai
and Coloane being the three zones. Besides
the universal subsidy, the elderly, students and
disabled persons also receive an additional
subsidy from the government to ensure their
costs of using public buses remain low. Transfers
made between bus services within the hour are
free. For transfers involving more than two bus
services, the second transfer costs between
MOP 0.5 and MOP 1, depending on whether
the trips are intra-zone or inter-zone.
-
… bus fares have been kept affordable
through government subsidies, and have
been remained unchanged for more than
a decade.
Table 1: Bus fares (in MOP)
Peninsula
Taipa/
Cotai
Coloane
Peninsula
2
(3.2)
2.5
(4.2)
3
(5.0-6.4)
Taipa/Cotai
2.5
(4.2)
2
(2.8)
2.5
(3.2-3.6)
Coloane
3
(5.0-6.4)
2.5
(3.2-3.6)
2
(2.8)
Note: Bus fares for passengers using electronic payment
media. Figures in parentheses are bus fares before subsidy or
for cash payment.
To meet higher public transport demand, in
August 2011, DSAT adopted a new bus service
operation model, with companies operating
bus routes based on service contracts with the
government. Prior to that, buses were operated
with concession contracts and the government
only had minimal influence on bus services. The
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Land Transport in Macao
new model allows the government to control
the provision of bus services. For example, it is
now able to increase the frequency of bus
services or introduce new routes that may not
be profitable. The bus companies operate the
bus services under the regulation of DSAT, and
provide the buses, staff, equipment, as well as
manage the operations.
To meet higher public transport demand,
in August 2011, DSAT adopted a new
bus service operation model, with
companies operating bus routes based
on service contracts with the
government.
Under the new model, DSAT carries out regular
bus service benchmarking and monitors the
quality of bus services using objective criteria.
Each bus service is evaluated using five
categories: provision of bus service, facility and
safety, driving behaviour, operation and
management, and customer satisfaction. The
benchmarking exercises are carried out every
six months, and are based on data collected
through an RFID system, observation surveys,
questionnaire surveys, police records, operation
logbooks, and more.
Each bus service is evaluated using five
categories: provision of bus service,
facility and safety, driving behaviour,
operation and management, and
customer satisfaction.
The benchmarking results may affect the
financial assistance the government provides to
the bus companies. The financial assistance is
based on operating mileage, and is an
important part of the income for bus operators,
besides the passenger fares and advertising
income. There can be a 0.25% to 1% deduction
in financial assistance if the final rating of the
evaluation is lower than 60 points (out of a
maximum of 100). On the other hand, the
amount of financial assistance can be
increased from 3% to 4% if the final rating is 80
points or above.
There are also more than 2,800 privately run
coaches that transport tourists, in the form of
tourist coaches and resort shuttle buses known
as “prosperity buses”. These buses mainly offer
regular, point-to-point and free-of-charge
services. In 2015, there were more than 80
routes, transporting more than 120,000
passengers every day. According to the
Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau
(2016), there are more than 500 shuttle buses of
all sizes used by different gaming companies for
their resort shuttle services.
Taxis
Taxi operations are regulated by the Decree
Law 366/99/M, “Regulations for light for-hired
vehicles (taxis)”. There are 1,300 vehicles
currently operating metered taxi services in
Macao. They are also known as “Black Taxis”,
as the vehicles are black in colour, with a light
ivory roof, although they can be owned either
by individuals or companies. There are two
kinds of taxi licences: those that last for 8 years,
or permanent ones. Taxi licenses are auctioned
from time to time to cater to changing
demands and to replenish expired taxi licenses.
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Private Transport
Macao’s rapid economic growth has directly
impacted vehicle ownership, which saw a
steady increase of more than 5% annually. As
shown in Figure 5, there were close to 250,000
private vehicles in Macao in 2015, split almost
equally between cars and motorcycles (DSEC,
2016). On average, there are 170 cars and 196
motorcycles per thousand residents. According
to the 2011 Census report, 45% of the
households did not own any vehicles, 16.8% of
them owned one motorcycle, 10.6% of them
owned one private car, 9.7% of them owned
one car and one motorcycle, 2.7% of them
owned two motorcycles, 5.6% of them owned
two private cars, and those owning more than
or exactly three vehicles were 9.6% (DSEC,
2011).
Macao’s rapid economic growth has
directly impacted vehicle ownership,
which saw a steady increase of more
than 5% annually.
Figure 5: Vehicle ownership over the past 5 years
Motorcycles are a fast-growing mode of private
transport in Macao. Currently, the total number
of motorcycles surpasses that of light vehicles.
Other than the provision of parking spaces for
motorcycles, to enhance the safety of
motorcyclists, one lane in each direction on the
Sai Van Bridge has been assigned as a
motorcycle lane. This lane is reserved for
motorcycles all day long, and has reduced the
accidents on the bridge. In 2015, there were
13,000 motorcycles using the motorcycle lanes
each day.
Demand Management
Demand
management
was
recently
introduced as one of the measures to relieve
the growth in vehicle ownership and usage by
raising vehicle sale taxes and parking fees. The
fees for using public car parks has remained
unchanged throughout the past decade. Since
2015, parking fees have been raised in stages.
Hourly parking rates have mostly increased to 6
MOP during the day and 3 MOP at night, while
rates for motorcycles are 2 MOP and 1 MOP
_
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Land Transport in Macao
accordingly, an increase of 100%. The increase
in parking charges has had an effect on the
number of spaces available at car parks (Figure
6). Taking peak hour parking as an example,
car parks that were fully utilised before now
have spaces available.
Demand management was recently
introduced as one of the measures to
relieve the growth in vehicle ownership
and usage by raising vehicle sale taxes
and parking fees.
To help achieve the targeted growth rate of
vehicle ownership as stated in the Five Year
Plan, vehicle sale taxes have also increased by
about 30% for cars and even more for
motorcycles. The growth rates as reported in
recent statistics (DSEC, 2016) have fallen to
around 4%, although it is not clear if this is purely
an effect of the tax hike, since the economy
has been in a downturn for the past two years.
Walking & Cycling
Because of its small land area, Macao is a
walkable city, although the increase in the size
of the city has negatively affected the walking
environment and has increased the demand
for mechanised forms of transport. To fulfil the
vision of the land transport policy and relieve
traffic congestion, more needs to be done to
improve the walking environment to encourage
more people to walk, particularly for short trips.
This
is
particularly
important
for
old
neighbourhoods and the historical centre. In
such places, the density is high and roads are
narrow, and walking is the most suitable means
of getting around. In recent years, the city has
built a number of walking facilities built such as
footbridges and pedestrian walking systems to
encourage pedestrian traffic (Figure 7).
Figure 6: Changes in the availability of parking spaces after increasing parking fees
Mean (After)
Mean (Before)
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Land Transport in Macao
Figure 7: Newly built walking facilities
Cycling is also a green transport mode being
promoted by the government. The total length
of bicycle lanes is 3 km and they are located at
the west and north coastal areas of
Taipa/Cotai. Currently, bicycle lanes are mainly
used for leisure.
When completed, the LRT network will
be the backbone of the city’s public
transport system, used by residents and
visitors for medium to long-distance
trips.
Transport Infrastructure Development
The Light Rapid Transit (LRT) system has been
identified as the core mode of public transport
in Macao. It is an automatic guided transit
system that utilises fully automated driverless
transit vehicles running on rubber tires and a
concrete path. Construction works for the Taipa
Line with a viaduct length of 9.3 km and 11
elevated stations, is mostly being carried out in
the Taipa/Cotai areas and the line is
earmarked to begin operation in 2019
(CCCMTL, 2015). The LRT network is planned to
reach most urbanised areas in Macao, and it
will be constructed in stages (Figure 8). When
completed, the LRT network will be the
backbone of the city’s public transport system,
used by residents and visitors for medium to
long-distance trips. Connections with railways in
nearby areas of China are also planned so that
passengers can travel by rail seamlessly
between China and Macao once the
infrastructure is complete.
Figure 8: An LRT station on the Taipa line under construction
To realise the vision of a seamlessly connected
public transport system, there are two public
transport interchanges under construction, one
each in Macao Peninsula and Taipa. Both are
located near to an LRT station to facilitate
transfers between the two major public
transport modes in future: LRT and buses. The
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Land Transport in Macao
interchanges
also
provide
pedestrian
connections with surrounding areas, coach
parking and car parking. As shown in Figure 9,
these
interchanges
will
be
integrated
multimodal facilities that will cater for efficient
and effective transfers between different
modes, and will integrate with their surrounding
areas.
Figure 9: A computer render of a future transport interchange
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
Currently, ITS applications are used in the areas
of traveller information and traffic enforcement.
For example, real-time traffic information is
being gathered using ITS at 33 key locations,
_
including the three main bridges, checkpoints,
busy junctions, roundabouts and road sections,
via camera images or incident reports. DSAT
provides real-time information about parking at
about 40 public car parks, as well as
information about bus routes and bus arrival
timings on its website and mobile app.
Conclusions
Macao’s rapid economic growth in the past
decade has put tremendous pressure on its
infrastructure and transportation system. It is a
compact city with one of the highest
population densities in the world, and high
levels of vehicle ownership has saturated its
roads and car parks. As part of a package of
solutions to ease these problems, DSAT has
placed the “primacy of public transport” at the
core of its land transport policy. Schemes such
as motorcycle lanes, bus lanes, bicycle lanes,
demand management are also being
implemented as part of the policy. Although
many of them are still being developed and
further refinements are necessary, they have
allowed Macao to keep its traffic moving,
albeit under tight conditions.
References
Cartography and Cadastre Bureau (DSCC), Macao,
S.A.R. Atlas of Zhuhai-Macao. Macao, 2016.
Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC), Macao S.A.R.
Results of 2011 Population Census. Macao, 2011.
Committee for the Construction of World Centre of
Tourism and Leisure (CCCMTL), Macao S.A.R. Macao
SAR Five Year Development Plan (2016-2020) (Draft).
Macao, 2015.
Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC), Macao S.A.R.
Statistics Database. Macao, 2016.
Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ),
Macao S.A.R. Mid-term Review Report of Gaming
Industry in Macao. Macao, 2016.
Traffic Affairs Bureau (DSAT), Macao S.A.R. General
Land Transport Policy of Macao (2010–2020). Macao,
2010.
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LAM Soi Hoi has been a technical consultant at the Transportation Infrastructure
Office, Macao, since 2008. He oversees the planning of the Macao LRT system
and the various planning studies relating to major developments and the
formation of the land transport policy in Macao. He is also an adjunct professor
at the University of Macau. Prior to working in Macao, Dr Lam was an associate
professor in Transport and Logistics at the School of Civil and Environmental
Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He holds a PhD in
Transportation Engineering from the University of Texas, Austin, USA.
KU Weng Keong is a PhD student at the University of Macau specialising in
Transport Engineering. He received his master’s degree in Civil Engineering from
the University of Macau, and a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the
National University of Kaohsiung. He is currently the project manager of UMTEC,
a subsidiary of University of Macau, and has been involved in various
consultancy projects in Macao, including travel characteristics survey, transport
policy master plan, parking fee study, bus service evaluation, road network
analysis, and more. His research interests include the analysis and application of
big data in transport, travel behaviour and quality control. Weng Keong is also
Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) in
Macao.
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