The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge officially opened to the general public on Wednesday and, not surprisingly, attracted many Hong Kong residents eager to be the first to cross the 55-kilometer bridge-and-tunnel cross-sea passage linking Hong Kong with Zhuhai and Macao. It usually takes two hours or longer to travel from Hong Kong to Zhuhai by boat, but with the HZMB one can do it in 75 minutes by bus. This means another important transport facility is now available to make the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area city cluster a bona fide one-hour living circle and offers Hong Kong residents easier access to Guangdong and Macao on a daily basis.

Before the HZMB opened, ferries and trains were the primary means of transportation for Hong Kong residents to go to areas west of Guangzhou. Numerous Hong Kong residents have relatives and even immediate family members in those areas, which is why they go there every now and then. Now the HZMB offers Hong Kong residents a shorter passage to western Bay Area and takes the one-hour living circle closer to reality. Many holiday resorts and leisure facilities further inland are now within easy reach.

As the cost of living rises in Shenzhen and Guangzhou it is only natural for people as well as businesses to move to less expensive areas further north and west, not to mention more job opportunities. To those who commute between Hong Kong and Zhuhai/Macao and travel further to western Guangdong regularly for business and/or leisure, the HZMB should qualify as a blessing, because it will save them a lot of precious time. That time can be shortened when the customs, immigration and quarantine clearance procedures plus security check at both ends of the bridge is optimized in the near future. As a matter of fact, Vice-Premier Han Zheng said on Tuesday the clearance procedures must be simplified sooner rather than later.

It is common for newly opened infrastructure facilities around the world to experience glitches more often than usual in the early days of service. That means people should exercise patience when using the brand-new HZMB these days. According to interviews with some of the "early birds" who drove from Hong Kong to Zhuhai and Macao via the HZMB Wednesday morning, the clearance procedure was quite smooth, but parking turned out to be a bit of hassle, mainly in figuring out directions.

In the name of efficiency, people have good reason to demand simplified clearance and issuance of special licenses. After all, both the HZMB and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link are designed to make travel in the Bay Area easier and faster than it used to be. That is why we just need some more patience and understanding until those wrinkles are ironed out one by one. To avoid unnecessary delays, people are advised to reach and cross the HZMB by designated buses for now. It may not be as convenient as people like at the moment, but going to the western part of the Bay Area one-hour living circle is expected to be easier in the near future because the HZMB is meant to achieve that.

(HK Edition 10/25/2018 page12)