Editorial : Make Good Use of HZMB to Build Greater Bay Area
文章日期：2024年10月8日
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【明報專訊】THE VEHICULAR FLOW through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) on 5 October reached 22,600, a single-day high since the bridge's opening six years ago. Of all vehicles crossing the bridge that day, 65% carried single plates from Hong Kong or Macao. Declaring the bridge open in 2018, President Xi Jinping said, "Make good use of the bridge and manage it well, so it plays an important role in building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area."
The increased traffic flow of vehicles statistically reflects that the bridge has been made good use of, but the real goal should be utilising the bridge in building the Greater Bay Area. It is worth studying which of the SAR government's policies have become negative factors hampering the use of the bridge.
The breakthrough in the HZMB's vehicle flow was certainly something to celebrate, but do compare it with the traffic through the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, which hit 155,000 vehicles on 1 October, the highest daily record since its opening on 1 July this year. Designed with the traffic capacity of 80,000 to 100,000 vehicles per day, the average daily traffic of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link in the first three months since its launch has already reached the upper limit of 100,000 vehicles.
The HZMB, however, has taken six years to achieve a vehicular flow of less than a fraction of the projected volume. When the borders were closed in 2021, only 423 vehicles crossed the bridge each day. After the pandemic, the vehicle traffic increased to 2.27 million for the whole year of 2023, but the daily average was only 6,244, which had already been boosted by the "Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles" scheme implemented on 1 July 2023.
One year after the northbound scheme was implemented, the total number of outbound Hong Kong vehicles crossing the HZMB this year amounted to 1 million on 7 July. The number of travellers using the bridge has also continued to increase. On 5 October, immigration clearance figures showed that 64,354 Hong Kong residents and 28,120 mainland residents entered or exited Hong Kong via the HZMB. The number of Hongkongers heading northward to spend money was much larger than that of mainlanders visiting and spending in Hong Kong.
Since the concept of "HZMB economy" was proposed by the last two terms of government, much time has passed but nothing has been achieved. "11 SKIES", located at SkyCity next to the airport, boasts a gross floor area of 3.8 million square feet. It will be a destination for retail, entertainment, dining, tourism and more, providing many amenities that meet top international design standards. It will presumably attract visitors to travel to Hong Kong through the HZMB. However, the full opening of SkyCity has been repeatedly postponed and so far, the opening date has not been announced.
On the other hand, the HZMB port shopping mall in Zhuhai was already opened in August. While its size and attractiveness would be diminished if compared with that in Hong Kong, Zhuhai's high efficiency is worth contemplating by all parties in Hong Kong.
To overcome other hurdles in the southward travelling of vehicles from Guangdong to Hong Kong, it requires further reforms. The current confining factors originate from the SAR government's phased implementation of the "Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles" scheme. In the first phase, a parking area will be provided in the HZMB port so that southbound cars from Guangdong can be parked after arriving in Hong Kong via the bridge. Only after some time then will the authorities consider allowing them into the urban area. Since there is still no exact date marked for the opening of the HZMB parking lot, Guangdong cars are not allowed to enter the urban area, which is likely also one of the constraints.
明報社評2024.10.07：用好大橋還要用好大橋經濟 建設大灣區特區政府莫怠慢
10月5日，港珠澳大橋車流量達到2.26萬架次，創出通車6年來單日最高紀錄，其中香港與澳門單牌車佔車流量的65%。習近平主席在2018年宣布港珠澳大橋通車時說，「用好管好大橋，為粵港澳大灣區建設發揮重要作用」。
車流量增加是用好大橋的數據支持，但真正要追求的是，如何用好大橋為大灣區建設發揮作用。值得探究的是，特區政府有什麼政策是制約用好大橋的消極因素。
港珠澳大橋車流量有所突破當然值得欣興，但與此相比，10月1日，深中通道車流量達到15.5萬架次，創造今年7月1日通車以來單日通車量最高紀錄。深中通道設計車流量是每天8萬到10萬架次，通車3個月以來，平均每天車流量已經達到最高值10萬架次。
港珠澳大橋用了6年時間，車流量都沒有達到預計的零頭。2021年封關期間，每天車流量只有423架次。疫情過後，2023年車流量提升到227餘萬架次，每日平均車流量只有6244架次，當中7月1日實施「港車北上」的因素，已經發揮一定的推動作用。
港車北上實施一年，今年7月7日港車北上達到100萬架次。使用港珠澳大橋的旅客也在不斷增加。10月5日經港珠澳大橋出入境數據顯示，香港居民64,354人次，內地居民28,120人次。港人北上消費的，遠比內地人來港消費的多。
大橋經濟由前兩屆政府提出，曠日持久無所成。「11天空」位處機場航天城，面積將達到380萬平方呎，內有零售、娛樂、餐飲、旅遊等元素，不少設施都能追上國際最高設計水平，相信能夠吸引旅客通過大橋來港。然而，航天城全面啟用日期一拖再拖，至今還沒有宣布開幕日期。
而珠海一側，大橋口岸商場已經在8月開張，雖然規模與吸引力跟香港的不可同日而語，但人家效率高速，則值得香港各界深思。
粵車南下還有一些制約，需要進一步改革突破。目前的制約因素在於特區政府政策，分階段實施的第一步，是在大橋口岸設置停車場，讓南下粵車過橋到港後泊在停車場，實施一段時間才考慮放寬南下粵車開到市區。停車場何時啟用也沒有確實日期，粵車來港不能進市區，相信也是制約因素之一。
■ Glossary 生字 /
hamper : to prevent sb from easily doing or achieving sth
contemplate : to think about whether you should do sth, or how you should do sth
hurdle : a problem or difficulty that must be solved or dealt with before you can achieve sth
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