In a separate Chinese-language briefing on 7 October, Hong Kong’s Transport Department detailed its contingency blueprint for crowd surges anticipated when the new 24-hour Huanggang Port comes online. Seven franchised bus routes will connect the port to nine MTR stations and four major bus interchanges, while six green-minibus lines will feed nearby districts. Bus operators have been told to keep reserve drivers and vehicles in a buffer zone so they can dispatch additional short-haul shuttles within minutes during evening return-trip peaks. Real-time feeds from port cameras and the Lok Ma Chau Bridge traffic sensors will stream directly to the Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre, enabling dynamic lane reversal and signal-timing tweaks on the Fan Ling Highway if coach queues stretch back toward Sheung Shui. Taxi operations will adopt a “token-first” system: empty cabs must pick up numbered tickets at a holding bay before proceeding to the terminal forecourt, while pre-booked fleet taxis will be marshalled by on-site “taxi ambassadors” who can re-allocate vehicles based on destination clusters. A dedicated indoor waiting area with digital boards will notify passengers which fleet is available next. The department urged commuters not to flock to the new crossing in its first week, suggesting alternative land ports remain less busy. Corporates planning launch-week product demos in Shenzhen should therefore leave larger schedule buffers or retain backup buses in Hong Kong. The Transport Department added that the plan had been stress-tested against Golden-Week traffic models that assume border flows 30 per cent above pre-pandemic peaks.
Source: RTHK
