Batgung

Hi there,

I had been wondering.......  Why just Apleichau?  Despite that is the most populated island in the world as of today, the public transport service there is actually part of the system of Hong Kong. 

Basically Hong Kong's public buses are franchised.  It doesn't really matter whether the government is encouraging us to take buses or not.  If you live in the area that is simply the most convinent and reasonably cheap.  To most of us living in Apleichau, the only way to get to work and/or going home was to take one of the buses going to and from Apleichau. 

Just to remind you, only a very small fraction of the seven million citizen here owns private cars.  It might be sort of difficult to compare.  But here's some figures for you:

-  The first public housing estate in Apleichau was built in the 1970's, before the bridge was built;

-  The bridge was built in the 1980's.  Some sort of bus routes was establish between Apleichau and Central, and Apleichau & Aberdeen.  Before that, the only public transport to and from Apleichau was by sampans or small boats, all privately operated;

-  A second bridge was built in the 1990's to cater for the newly developed South Horizons private estate back then.  More bus routes had been established, and nightmare began during morning rush hours as the new population had saturated the flow of the Aberdeen Tunnel.  It might take you 45 minutes from Apleichau to Central that way.

-  Current bus fare ranging from HKD4.7 to HKD6.9 for routes going to Central/Causeway Bay.  From HKD3.0 to HKD3.2 for routes going to Aberdeen/Chi Fu Fa Yuen.  All buses going to Kowloon side charge HKD11.1  A new route from Apleichau to the Airport charges HKD45 (I think).  Sorry, I could not recall the old fares over the years.

It is very difficult to explain.  Perhaps you might like to consider a field trip some time in the future and see it for yourself, first hand.

Best Regards,

T

I agree with T: Apleichau is just a small, integrated part of HK's transport system, don't consider it on its own...

Technically, a second bridge was added in the '90's, but that might give a misleading impression of two routes, it is alongside the first bridge, as far as traffic flow goes, it is more accurate to say the bridge was widened from 2 lanes to 4 lanes.

The bus fares are fixed, but there are enough routes and high enough frequency that I will often choose to wait for a cheaper bus stopping at or near my destination, than catch one that goes past my destination now.

As a future development, a rail line from admirality through Wong Chuk Hang to Apleichau is in the works... planning notices and plans have been published. This will greatly reduce the congestion at the Aberdeen tunnel, and reduce journey time.

Hi there,

Something to ponder conerning your misconceptions:

1.  Apleichau never has it's own stand alone public bus system.  The buses going to and from Apleichau are run by three Franchise bus companies and their destinations are not limited to Hong Kong Island.  All these Franchise buses have routes running all around the city.

2.  The only stand alone public transport for Apleichau are the two motorized sampan routes running between Apleichau & Aberdeen;

3.  Apleichau is the most densely populated island in the world, I believe.  There are around 100,000 permenant residents on the island.  There is an entry in the Wiki records showing a recent census records;

4.  The bus routes are the ONLY way for Apleichau residents to go to work and school, for now;

I strongly suggest you come over and take a look yourself.

Best Regards,

T

Hi T

Due to commercial and financial constraints, it is really not feasible to come over there to have a look into system. However I have looked into geographical specifications of Ap Lei Chau and they are quite comparable to the subject of my project.

I would be grateful if you can suggest me whether people don't consider buying their own private cabs because of this available service or price of an own car is too high which discourages people to buy new cars. 

Regards
Abishek 

Apleichau is similar to Sentosa in Singapore context. Sentosa really is an extension of the main island of Singapore. You can zip over to Sentosa by way of the Harbor Front shuttle across the bridge, thus Sentosa is really not regarded as a totally different island like... St John's island.  Apleichau is similar. Lantau is indeed a better study subject.

Hi,Abishek Mahajan

You need to buy a map of Hong Kong in Singapore.

Lantau Island is the largest outlying island in Hong kong.The southern stripe of the island,with the exception of the Disneyland Hong Kong and the private housing estate " Discovery Bay/愉景灣",is preserved for rustic development, while the northern stripe near the Hong Kong International Airport  is developed into a new town with private housing estates[similar to the high rise condominiums in Singapore] and two public housing estates. A large part of the Lantau Island has been designated as country parks. The southern stripe and northern stripe is connected by a narrow road and a private tunnel.

The New Lantao Bus Company[www.newlantaobus.com]have 16 routes serving  the inhabitants of the island.

The inhabitants of the northern stripe are served by the subsidary of the Kowloon Motor Bus[www.kmb.hk] and the MTR[www.mtr.com.hk].

The Discovery Bay is connected with the Hong Kong Island with 24 hours high speed ferries. 10  bus routes connected with different parts of the Discovery Bay ,and 3 bus routes connected with Tung Chung, the Hong Kong International Airport and the Disneyland hong Kong.[www.discoverybay.com.hk]

Mui Wo on the southern side of the Lantau Island is connected with the Hong Kong Island with high speed ferries and ordinary ferries.[www.nwff.com.hk]

Best regards,

Raymond Lo