Govt. launches consultation on light metro

Govt. launches consultation on light metro

Macau Post Daily 16 July 2007
Suki Leong and Eva Lao Kai Lei

The government has launched a 45-day public consultation on its 4.2 billion pataca elevated light metro project, including a string of “clarification sessions” for different sectors of civil society and the gathering of citizens’ opinions through the website of the Infrastructure Development Office (GDA) – http://www.gdi.gov.mo/

The consultation process began last Friday, when Secretary for Transport and Public Works Lau Si Io announced the project’s latest “optimization plan.”

Mr. Lau said Macau’s overhead light metro system on a track of stilts would span 20 kilometres in its first phase, which was scheduled to be completed in 2011.

Addressing a press conference on the project at the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM), Mr. Lau said the latest “optimization plan” already included the outcome of three public consultations that were held in 2003, 2005 and last year respectively.

Mr. Lau said he hoped that the current consultation process could result in a public consensus on the government’s biggest public infrastructure project since Macau’s return to the motherland in 1999. The policy secretary was quick to add that after conclusion of the public consultation process, the project was planned to be implemented “as soon as possible,” adding he expected the project to break ground in the middle of next year.

According to the optimization plan, the GDA planners decided to shorten the first-phase length of the system from 22 kilometres to 20 kilometres and to reduce the number of stations from 26 to 23.


40 per cent of population ‘in walking distance’

According to GDA planners present at the press conference, 40 per cent of the population lives “within walking distance” of the 23 stations. The caption areas of the stations comprise a radius of between 300 metres (four minutes’ walking distance) and 500 metres (seven minutes’ walking distance), according to the planners. A ride from the Barrier Gate to the future ferry terminal in Pac On in Taipa will take 34 minutes.

Asked about claims that the project caters for tourists and fails to take locals’ public transport needs into account, Mr. Lau said, “That’s a misunderstanding. Our design is not just convenient for tourists. The network covers Macau’s most densely populated high-rise building areas, such as the northern district, Nape, Zape, and Ocean Gardens. Many residents will work in Cotai in the future. Many residents will benefit from the network.”

According to the plan presented at the press conference, the driverless and rubber-tired trains will run 19 hours a day, traveling at an average speed of 33 km/h. Each train will comprise four carriages, each measuring 30 metres in length, with a total capacity of carrying a maximum of 8,000 passengers per hour in either direction. The trains will depart every three minutes during peak hours and between every three and six minutes in off-peak hours.

According to the GDI, the system will carry an average of 110,000 passengers a day and 40.2 million passengers a year, based on an annual population growth of two per cent and an annual increase in the number of visitor arrivals of around eight per cent. Based on an annual population growth of 2.5 per cent and an annual increase in the number of visitor arrivals of 14 per cent, the light metro would carry an average of 150,000 passengers a day and 54 million passengers a year.

The plan also provides for a “feeder service” by public buses and taxis from several interchanges.


‘Light impact’

The GDI planners told the press conference that a monorail, underground metro and tram were all “locally not suitable” due to Macau’s specific conditions.

Asked about claims that the overhead track would negatively affect Macau’s cityscape, such as by blocking the view of the Praia Grande Government Headquarters and the Fortress of Our Lady of Good Birth, Kuong Wai Cheok, an engineer of the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT), said the track would affect the cityscape “a little bit” only.

Mr. Kuong pointed out that the track would have a height of between 10 and 12 metres from street level and that the stilts would be separated by a distance of about 20 metres each. “The negative impact is light,” Mr. Kuong said, adding that each stilt had a diameter of one metre only.

International tender

Meanwhile, Mr. Lau said the government would launch an international tender for the project and set up an independent committee to assess the bids. He also said the government would hire an international consultancy to help launch the tender.

According to the GDI, due to its rubber tires and other technical specifications the light metro has a “low” noise level of just 50 to 60 decibel. Under the first-phase plan, the network will serve Macau’s border checkpoints and major residential areas and tourist spots. The second phase of the project would include the Inner Harbour, Patane (Sa Lei Tau) and an “east-west axis” across the Macau Peninsula, as well as a line around Taipa.

Meanwhile, an informed source told The Macau Post Daily last night that Mr. Lau would visit several European countries later this year to study the operations of light metro systems there.

Critical voices

The New Macau Association (NMA) held a press conference yesterday to criticize some aspects of the project, claiming that it failed to meet the needs of most residents.

The press conference was jointly held by the association’s president, Chan Wai Chi, and vice-president, Cheong Su Kin, as well as one of its two lawmakers, Au Kam San. The NMA held the press conference at its office.

The NMA representatives maintained that the proposed network failed to take into account the public transport needs of future home-ownership and public housing building complexes in the Ilha Verde and Fai Chi Kei districts. The representatives urged the government to extend the network to the peninsula’s north-western districts of Ilha Verde, Fai Chi Kei and Toi San, as well as along the Inner Harbour waterfront.


The representatives also called for a consultation period of least three months. Mr. Au also criticized the project’s “vague” budget, likening it to “asking citizens to issue a blank cheque.” Mr. Au said he was worried that huge cost overruns that affected the East Asian Games project in Macau in the recent past might hit the public treasury once again.


Meanwhile, indirectly elected lawmaker-cum-businessman Kou Hoi In criticized the project after its presentation by the government to the legislature last Friday. Mr. Kou said the project failed to meet the needs of the city’s old quarters.

Directly elected legislator-cum-trade unionist Kwan Tsui Hang said that while the project failed to “fully meet the needs of Macau,” she found it “overall acceptable.”

Both Ms. Kwan and Mr. Kou expressed doubts about the government’s price tag of 4.2 billion patacas for the project. Ms. Kwan urged the government to come up with a more detailed financing plan.

A straw poll by The Macau Post Daily over the weekend showed that some residents appear to be critical of the network’s proposed routing and believed that the project would in the end cost much more than the officially budgeted 4.2 billion patacas. On the other hand, some tourists said that even after the opening of the light metro system they would still prefer the free shuttle bus services provided by local casino operators. “Why should I pay for a metro ticket if I can get a free shuttle bus ride,” a regular casino visitor from Guangzhou asked.

GDI Director Antonio Jose Castanheira Lourenco said tickets would cost three patacas for a ride on the Macau Peninsula and four patacas for a trip between the peninsula and Taipa. However, the optimization plan released at the press conference includes an “alternative” ticket price structure ranging between four and six patacas.

Proposed stations:

On the Macau Peninsula, there are twelve stations: Barrier Gate (starting point), Avenida Leste do Hipodromo, Fire Service Station in Bairro da Areia Preta, Outer Harbour Maritime Terminal, Macau Fisherman’s Wharf, Macau Cultural Center, Dr. Carlos D’ Assumpcao Park, Jardim das Artes (near Galaxy Casino), Avenida Doutor Mario Soares (near Sintra Hotel), Rua do Chunambeiro (near Nam Van Lake), Fire Service Station at Sai Van Lake, Macau Maritime Museum (near Ma Kok Temple).

A ride from the Barrier Gate to the Maritime Museum at the entrance to the Inner Harbour (terminal station) will take 18 minutes.

The light metro will connect the Macau Peninsula with Taipa and Cotai via the Sai Van Bridge. There are eleven stations, spanning a network of some eight kilometres, on Taipa and Cotai: Sai Van Bridge, Taipa Tunnel, Macau Jockey Club, Estrada da Baia de Nossa Senhora de Esperanca (near Macau Olympic Aquatic Centre), Lotus Bridge Border Gate, Macau East Asian Games Dome, Taipa-Coloane Causeway, Macau University of Science and Technology Stadium, Macau International Airport, and the future ferry terminal in Pac On (terminal station).

A ride from the Sai Van Bridge (Taipa side) to the future ferry terminal in Pac On (terminal station) will take 16 minutes.