The government plans to introduce online payment for Macau’s parking meters, Transport Bureau (DSAT) Director Kelvin Lam Hin San said yesterday during a press conference about a public consultation on the government’s draft of Macau’s land transport master plan for 2021-30.
The press conference was held at the bureau after Lam and other DSAT officials briefed members of the government-appointed Traffic Consultative Council about the master plan.
Lam said that the two-month public consultation on the draft plan started yesterday, which will run until July 22.
Lam said that the bureau plans to improve “intelligent transport” by facilitating online payment for parking meters via an app, pointing out that the agreement between the government and the current parking meter company will expire in April next year.
In addition to the 55 existing public car parks in Macau, Lam said that the bureau will add five more public car parks this year, which will provide more than 2,000 parking spaces for public use.
Lam said that drivers should consider using a car park if there is one for the public within about 100 metres of their destination, because the fees for on-street parking and public car parks are the same, while parking in car parks can make room for tree planting and greenery, which the government thinks can improve the walking environment in the city.
The plan presented by Lam forecasts that in 2030 there will be 244,000 motor vehicles in Macau, an increase of 48,000 vehicles compared to 2010.
The plan also predicts that Macau’s motor vehicle use will continue to grow, with an annual increase of about 3.6 percent in road traffic during peak hours.
Lam said the government plans to increase the proportion of trips made by the Light Rail Transit (LRT), buses and cabs to 55 to 60 percent of the total number of trips by 2030, while raising the proportion of “green trips”, i.e., public transport and slow-moving transport to 70 to 75 percent also by 2030.
Lam said he believes the number of public buses, currently standing at around 1,000, should be the limit and there was no need to increase them further.
The government’s announcement on Monday that it plans to build a cross-sea cable car between the Macau Science Centre in Nape and the Zone A land reclamation area, has met with mostly negative comments from netizens, observers pointed out yesterday.
Lam mentioned that the initial idea of the cable car is to carry about 50 passengers each time, with a capacity of 6,000 passengers per hour, pointing out that some members of the tourism industry supported the cross-sea cable car during yesterday’s meeting as, they said, it could serve as a new tourist attraction.
According to the master plan, it is predicted that by 2030 the number of overall trips by Macau residents will grow to 2.43 million per day, an increase of about 17 percent from 2019, while cross-border traffic is forecast to rise to 580,000 trips per day, an increase of about 11 percent.
Lam said that all sectors of the community are welcome to express their views and suggestions by visiting https://www.dsat.gov.mo/planning/survey.aspx, filling in an online form during the two-month consultation period, after which the government will analyse the opinions received, and publish a report on the findings. For enquiries, please contact the bureau on 2875 0626 during office hours.
Transport Bureau (DSAT) Director Kelvin Lam Hin San speaks during yesterday’s press conference at his bureau about the ongoing public consultation on the government’s draft of Macau’s land transport master plan for 2021-30. Photo courtesy of TDM
