The $18.8 Bil, Borderline Useless Bridge Between Hong Kong and Macau

[@AirRBnpc]

5:20 this is correct. People in HK are carpooling 50-60 people in a single car. They call it "buses".

[@leunghoiyan5669]

😂😂😂😂

[@PK-Tang]

神評

[@BetastuffXyzFORUM]

You should make a half as interesting video on how NordVPN didn't disclose a data breach to customers, and how they spend more money getting KZbinrs to market their overrated product than they do on security for it.

[@HexCopper]

So a VPN service was data breached and that data was *checks notes* Limited to Finland Only data for 3 months No user credentials The data was MitM data missing half the location (either only where the data went or that the data was going the NordVPN) It was a 3rd party data center All in all seems like Nord doesn’t keep logs of where their users went or at the very least doesn’t give those logs to a third party Not trying to glaze Nord. You DEFINITELY don’t need a VPN unless you want to stream shows from other countries. LMG did a WAN show on why they wanted to, but couldn’t, make a VPN

[@IanHobday]

If something is advertised by a KZbinr, I automatically assume it's a scam.

[@isaactan3026]

@@IanHobday same as nebula lmao

[@OryxTheMadGod3]

@@HexCopper and it happened over 4 years ago

[@lucidattf]

@@isaactan3026 youre delusional

[@matthiaswolfe9435]

I reject this assertion. I love going amateur gambling directly after a day of professional gambling at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

[@pan2aja]

LOL... Underated comment. Could you just gambling on crypto. Or are they somehow different

[@ancova1183]

You're thinking too small. You do what Bill Benter did in 1984. You learn how to card-count at MIT, get blacklisted from Las Vegas, Morocco, and Macau, then go earn billions with Hong Kong horse racing, before you become a professor in economics.

[@vinching926]

@@ancova1183 Horse racing is insane here, you can't really rig that unless you're already in the trainer parties.

[@ancova1183]

@@vinching926 Yes, it's kind of crazy how the guy did it. Nobody should make money off horse racing in HK. Although it's higher now, you had to pay like 12% of your winnings as taxes in the 1990s, which meant you needed to actually win that much more money to just break even.

[@mesiroy1234]

Yeha beucse ccp can close any company 😂

[@return6005]

5:20 yeah, serious carpooling is actually happening. They're called buses. From my time living in hk, most ppl now travel to hk using the regular bus service that crosses the bridge. Very few ppl in hk have private vehicles anyway since public transport is so good in hk

[@Summer-xu8qu]

Yeah, I was confused when I saw this video. I lived in hk for several years and I thought the bus is a pretty common choice there.

[@flyviawall4053]

Still the most popular is ferry, you need to read the figures And you need to book parking weeks before, what is the point?

[@flyviawall4053]

Still the most popular is ferry, you need to read the figures And you need to book parking weeks before, what is the point?

[@mauramanfred2714]

​​@@flyviawall4053what figure? 15000 thousand/day by ferries vs 4200 vehicle by bridge? Let assume 10% of the volume is bus and a bus have capacity of 40 people it easily surprass the ferries passenger😂😂😂😂

[@flyviawall4053]

@@mauramanfred2714You’re mixing HKChina and HKMacau into one number while ferry only goes to HKMacau. (also goes to SZ but only one ferry per day). Also there’s TST terminal not counted, mostly cotai ferry Also the gold bus fleet only own 90~130buses…

[@kylexrex]

The fact that no one noticed, or bothered to mention, the huge mistake at the start of the video where he says 18.8 billion dollars is 27 billion yuan is painful. It’s actually converted to 137 billion yuan. The day 18.8 billion dollars converts to 27 billion yuan will be the day we’re all forced to learn Mandarin.

[@avalonoffire]

I love learning mandarin. It’s great to suffer learning it but i love learning this bone language.

[@Darkest_matter]

@@avalonoffire i like chinese love songs

[@EinWenigRebellion]

He says 127 billion, the graphic is wrong.

[@newsaxonyproductions7871]

Real

[@fofopads4450]

Yeah only american nationalists have this terror, seeing learning foreign languages as threat. I learned English to open my self to more of the world beyond Latin America and Spain, and I'd love to have enough brains to learn mandarin and russian

[@MrRodrigocv]

As a resident of Macau, I use this bridge all the time, and most of the time the bus I come in is full. Because even though not a lot of people drive on it, a huge number of people use the public bus service because it's like 60% cheaper than the ferry. The ferry is far too expensive for what it offers. Also, it takes the same amount of time as the ferry, people just complain that it only goes to lantau, but it's a bridge it connects the closer point of Macau to the closer point in Hong Kong. You can take a bus (private company) from the center of Macau to the center of Hong Kong if you want to, it takes around 2 hours, without this bridge you wouldn't be able to do that. Not to mention the added bonus of connecting zhuhai also.

[@calvincoolidge1207]

I lived in Zhuhai and liked visiting Hong Kong. The expensive ferry made me visit HK a lot less than I would have if the cheap buses were available then.

[@JimS3934]

Also useful for day trips from Macau/Zhuhai to HK Disney. And it makes flying out of HK airport 10 times easier for Macau an Zhuhai residents than the old airport ferries which were expensive and infrequent.

[@SpiritsBB]

They don’t want to hear it. Macau and Hong Kongers don’t agree, but westerners just listen to crap and agrees just because.

[@jonahmakay8647]

I lived in Hong Kong and although more infrastructure should be welcomed. The bridge is way too expensive. HK contributed a lot of money on this but realistically not controlling the bridge. There are tolls for using the bridge but it'll take forever to be financially recoverable. It does not make sense to spend that much for a 30 minute shorter journey.

[@saturnv2419]

It is easier to go from Macau because it is a much smaller place. The reverse is a logistic nightmare you might as well take the ferry.

[@andrewcheng1998]

Context: Cars in Hong Kong is more or less a luxury than a necessity unlike most places. The territory is just too small justify having a car for most people, and the public transport work quite well. Most buses and subway are on time within minutes and taxi fare is not overly expensive. And we have Double-Decker Bus

[@JoeJoe-wv6de]

Double decker bus gang 🇬🇧❤🇭🇰

[@HayaYuki]

pause the taxi is defo over expensive

[@hudziszeq]

buses also expensive af.

[@Ash-vt7uu]

Not to mention the money for buying private parking lots cost more than a house in other countries

[@johnsnow5125]

@JoeJoe-wv6de they have double deckler buses in places like Vienna. The original ones from London, I think. Only really used for sightseeing tours, though. Random side note, Utrecht in the NL used or still uses old tram cars from Vienna

[@Renclarence]

As a HK resident, I don’t really understand how it is useless. Almost everyone in Hong Kong uses this bridge to travel to the mainland of China because the bus fares are reasonable, and it saves you a lot of time.

[@WolfyMacontosh]

I think he's making the point if you own your own personal vehicle that it is an immensely troublesome experience in order to be able to use this bridge to drive on it yourself.

[@rogerlee5824]

The thing is, most ppl in Hong Kong don't drive their own cars. The public transport in Hong Kong is much better than most as it can get you to pretty much any place you need to go without the wait times in most other places. This video is describing a problem from the eyes of an North American stand point, where ppl need cars to get around as the public transport is shxt in most cities. I mean waiting 1h for a bus if you live in an rural area would make anyone want to drive instead.

[@WolfyMacontosh]

@@rogerlee5824 yes public transportation is awful in America and we prefer to drive. Certain big cities in America public transportation is efficient and "affordable" but you deal with constant problems from other passengers that make it a miserable experience. I imagine in Hong Kong the good people act much more civilized and respectful.

[@CoryPchajek]

@@WolfyMacontoshthere’s this thing called a bus. I took the bus on that bridge. Pretty smooth experience. Somewhat more practical and better for the environment than taking a ferry (disturbs marine life).

[@CoryPchajek]

@@WolfyMacontoshthe main problem in America and Canada is that modern suburbs are designed horribly with no mixed use zoning and low density only. They aren’t walkable at all and you pretty much need a car to run any errands. It’s an insanely unsustainable way to build a city.

[@klhkdkk2568]

As a resident of Hong Kong, even though I live very close to the ferry port in Hong Kong, I prefer taking the bus over the bridge as it's significantly cheaper and not that much slower. The buses also run all night long, whereas the ferry stops before midnight.

[@Billius_Bobae]

Taking the bus does seem like it would avoid a lot of the problems. Would you say taking the bus is popular or becoming so?

[@klhkdkk2568]

@Billius_Bobae If you live in the Northern Territories or Kowloon, you save less time with the ferry, so the bus is relatively more popular. If you live on Hong Kong island, I think the ferry is significantly more popular.

[@Barceman]

The ferry used to serve 24/7 before the bridge

[@wpgc2]

@@klhkdkk2568 Exactly, when you are in HK, take the ferry. Otherwise take the gold bus. Glad to hear local speaks up to correct the misinformation.

[@iqbalbhayangkara3816]

So the buses operates 24/7? Planning to go to Macau for a 1 day trip from HK. Thanks!!

[@WKS32]

On today’s episode of Sam forgets Buses and Trucks Exist…

[@Jose.AFT.Saddul]

The Ferry is still the most popular public transport between both territories

[@Fay7666]

Both of which can fit on _ferries._ This is the reason why America doesn't build interstate rail, for such distances its just easier to put everyone on a plane than building out all of the infrastructure to make rail not a niche project. Exceptions abound, the Northeast, California, Florida, Texas, the Great Lakes, but besides most of these (a few of them non-existent or stuck in NIMBY hell) it's just easier to build airports and surrounding infrastructure to stuff more people into planes.

[@WKS32]

@@Fay7666 Tell me you've never taken Cotai Water Jet or TurboJet ferries without telling me you've never taken those ferries. No buses or trucks will fit on those. the HK-MO-CN ferries are very much people-centric.

[@leolardoo]

@@WKS32 Agreed. The 港珠澳大桥 is being grossly underestimated in this video. It's super easy to take on bus, and massively improved integration between HK and the greater pearl river delta. The services from each port (i.e. buses or taxis) on the HK, Macau, and Zhuhai port side are also so convenient. This video does seem like a bit of the 'foreigner asserts claim on something that is thousands of kilometres away' vibe.

[@vinching926]

It's not half as interesting, it's hilariously interesting. HZMB / Shenzhen-Zhongshan and already existing Humen Bridges are working together for all the buses and trucks from nearby cities across the channel to other places in GBA, not to mention they're just a short part of a even longer interstate highway. Both new bridges are useful as hell and one going down would be a pain in the arse.

[@fiaviy.5298]

The bridge itself makes sense. It's just too troublesome and expensive on the logistics side for average car owners. But when it comes to big buses and trucks, which you didn't mention that in the video, it's far from useless.

[@cosmogally1964]

The bridge doesnt make sense, travel time was not cut between main HK areas to Macau / Zhuhai and there's a new bridge anyway connecting both sides of the delta (ZS-SZ bridge) that opened a few years later

[@1lyxbollyvykn714]

China could use trains and sure they know how to build them. The bridge is just a way to integrate hk further into china

[@jasoncheng2735]

@@cosmogally1964you can't compare them like that. The latter connects 2 parts of the same country (territory without borders) where as the HMZ bridge connects 3 different territories. Driving from between the borders is far more complicated than it is in other countries as well. There are 3 border crossings from HK to SZ, but you cant use them unless you have one of the license plates/permits worth up to $1-2mil HKD.

[@evjq]

4:43

[@zakf2929]

He mentioned that you can get buses across it though and that it's just easier to take a ferry instead of the bus.

[@thechairman1024]

The part of the video where he says something like "I guess they are just carpooling 60 people to 1 car" is hilarious lol Yeah dude its called busses, not everywhere is like the U.S where its a hellscape of traffic and congestion caused by single occupant cars

[@sleepyjoe4529]

This is the danger of people who don't live there to make up sensational but poorly researched videos like it's objective and/or true.

[@BrianPYL]

Rumors are created by haters, spread by fools, and accepted by idiots

[@WolfyMacontosh]

Tell us the truth, SleepyJoe

[@SodaWithoutSparkles]

It is important to note that most Hongkongers don't own a car. Most people just take the public transit. The primary method of getting thru the borders are buses and railways. This bridge also serve as a cargo link, and it is part of a bigger system of bridges in the Greater Bay Area.

[@Enoch916]

If it was a cheaper bridge, it would have been justified. However, there are only marginally benefits over the other methods of travelling (e.g. cheaper fares for buses over ferry) for that 19 billion us dollar price tag.

[@huihungtat9194]

Overpriced? Maybe, Useless? Absolutely Nah. I love this channel but this one is just off the mark. This video just missed that the flexibility of shuttle bus service and cutting 1-2 hour traffic time to zhuhai makes one day round trip to zhuhai and surrounding area much more feasible. In fact, there are real concerns that hk ppl will just spend weekends & buy their daily products in China, tanking the already under weather hk economy. Just yesterday I had dinner in zhuhai at around 7pm and back to Kowloon at like 10:30pm instead of hustling for ferry at 4-5pm when i was a child. And the dinner was 1/3 price of hk.😅

[@dartagnan9094]

The video creator shitting on the bridge the whole video and Hong Kong residents in the comments saying the bridge is actually useful is the funniest thing ever.

[@1tan269]

propaganda baby, u see us tax payer money at work

[@Tesswrench111]

Bro jumped the shark with this video.

[@guineapiig8089]

It’s a typically American thing to do. Confidently making broad statements that are plainly wrong.

[@telescopicS627]

Sadly, opinions of Chinese people have been discredited by their government's Wumao propaganda.

[@SirSmokieS]

It's just a typical click-bait, minimum effort, cash grab video. I guarantee the video creator couldn't care less about getting some info wrong let alone care about any of the viewers opinions. Go look at the comment section in literally any video produced by this channel and you'll see there is no interaction between the content creator and their audience. Furthermore, you'll notice the video is 8 minutes long.. unsurprisingly this is an ideal video length to be able to insert a mid-roll advertisement as well as the other bits of advertising sprinkled throughout. This provides the most pay for the least amount of effort. If you want content that is actually factual and not the same old regurgitated, poorly researched and unoriginal content that this channel produces then I would suggest looking into other channels.

[@ABirdNamedBird]

I am a resident in Macau and now there is something called 港車北上 which is Hong Kong drivers can use the bridge to get to Zhuhai and it is a lot easier to get a permit to do it

[@oishibaking]

Yea we have that too and we always drive to Zhuhai (HKer here)

[@thelastm4]

@@oishibakingwe got ripped off because we spent our money on a plate just for them to introduce that scheme so our plate is worth nothing now

[@oishibaking]

@@thelastm4 tbh they r doing this just for the benefit of Zhuhai not us (on a political level) so u can say they ripped of us, that’s true. To view it optimistically, u can also exploit the cheap prices in there to make the most out of it lol

[@wonderpotato1234]

As a resident in Macau with a lot of family in HK, the bridge is very convenient for both drivers and non drivers. The public buses are quicker and cheaper than the ferry and also run 24/7. Most of this video should be tossed out simply by looking at the number of ferries going between HK and Macau decreasing the second the bridge opened.

[@chuheihkg]

Reallly depending on where you are.

[@pineapplesareyummy6352]

You complete missed the fact ALMOST NO ONE drives in Hong Kong and Macau. These are some of the densest cities in the world. Only the rich can afford a car, because there is nowhere to park one (a parking space is effectively owning another apartment). Everyone use public transport. As for buses and trucks, they do use the bridge, and for whom the the bridge was built for, not private vehicles.

[@electricalinput5999]

Still dumb how you need three license plates on the back of your car (one from hong kong, one from china, and one from macau) if you want to drive from hong kong to macau.

[@timothystamm3200]

So then it definitely should have a rail line if they actually want people to use this bridge.

[@kencube86]

@@electricalinput5999Because of the agreement between British, Portugese and Chinese governments when Hong Kong and Macau were handovered to China. The Chinese government promised Hong Kong and Macau are self administred for 50 years. Three places have three different systems. There are no plan to combine three systems currently.

[@pineapplesareyummy6352]

​@@electricalinput5999 That's because Guangdong, Macau and Mainland are still legally three different systems. It's like why a car from outside the EU would have two number plates when driving in the EU.

[@yensteel]

​@@pineapplesareyummy6352 Macau and HK are also based on UK road systems. You get on the left side of the bus

[@josephwang5859]

I don't think the bridge is useless at all. It doesn't have much traffic but the traffic that does go across it are buses, and the bridge vastly reduces the time it takes from getting from Hong Kong to Macau. Before the bridge, you would have to go to Central and then take a ferry, and with the bridge you can take any bus to the port interchange, switch buses, and then go to Macau. The other thing is that it's generated a ton of economic activity in Zhuhai.

[@indefatigablematt]

There is a traffic jam coming back from Zhuhai to Hong Kong every weekend, so there is plenty of traffic!

[@skpracta]

@@indefatigablemattthe bottle neck is at the Chinese border control and the toll booths😂 The bridge is designed to handle mainly freight and bus traffic, and yet the usage is so low that they start to allow Macau and Hong Kong registered cars to enter Guangdong via the border control point wt HZMB.

[@colinli7006]

​@skpracta the bridge was originally designed for logistical use, but was also planned for use by private cars and buses

[@kkho2198]

passenger number shows its a junk bridge

[@HKFromAbove]

@@skpracta try crossing at the other border points in Hong Kong. The ZhuHai checkpoint is one of the quickest. Crossing into china is always time consuming unless you have the Mainland Travel Card.

[@kencube86]

The ferry used to run 4 trips per hour. Now they run 1 trip per hour. Buses fare is about 1/3 of ferry. Most of the passengers choose to use the buses on bridge instead of ferry.

[@lieutenanteclipse9975]

I'd still take the ferry from Central rather than going to the airport for the bridge lol

[@MultiWilliam15]

Easily one of the worst videos you have ever made. I'm not from HK nor Macau (or China, for that matter), and yet I have travelled this route without any paperwork, just my passport. It's less than half the price of the HK-Macau ferries, and there are free shuttles in the bus port going straight to the casinos. There's no rule requiring you to stay in the casinos if you decide to ride these shuttle buses. And even if, for the sake of argument, you feel too ashamed to use these free services, the bus fare only costs 6 patacas anywhere you go in Macau. Personally, I just prefer this ride as I easily get motion sickness from riding the ferry. I'm fine with questioning if the cost of building this bridge justifies the convenience it provides, but barely anyone deals with the issues you pointed out.

[@raykan3643]

It’s not just useless. As a person from HK , the shuttle buses operating between HK and Macau and Zhuhai provides another choice to go to another side. The price is just like 60HKD . But taking a ferry will cost around 150HKD

[@kkho2198]

yet people still took the ferry

[@brianng9765]

@@kkho2198 because there used to be more ferry trips per hour, now there's less, and people don't want to go all the way to the airport just to take the bus, when the ferry is at the city closer for most people. People do take the bus more often now

[@heidiahiru]

I agree that taking buses is cheaper but it's kinda a pain in the ass to go to Chek Lap Kok (赤臘角) for me so I would choose ferries whenever I have a choice (ie not after midnight)

[@wellthisisrandom.]

Let's compare that to the 1,600-foot-long Fresno River Viaduct that took 9 years and $11B. At least the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai Bridge is being used.

[@zukaro]

7:03 How about I wisely DON'T waste my money on NordVPN.

[@xcmledder3420]

What vpn service do you recommend?

[@screwaccountnames]

@@xcmledder3420 Most people in most situation just don't need a VPN. If you're travelling internationally and/or your country has restrictive content blocking policies, it might become useful, but I imagine most viewers of this channel don't actually fall under those categories. If you do actually need a VPN, I guess you could do worse than signing up with NordVPN, but they're just one company in a space where there's a lot of similar companies and products.

[@winstonhsu1927]

​@@xcmledder3420Depends on your use for a VPN, as different ones have different strengths. I usually use them when I go visit China, so I use LetsVPN which consistently works plus is cheap. Many others including Nord don't work for this purpose.

[@safetytfh]

@@xcmledder3420 None unless your goal is getting around georestrictions, or tunneling back to your home country as an endpoint while abroad.

[@antiquehealbot6543]

There was 97% cashback during black Firday with Rakuten. That's when I got it.

[@MGZetta]

For Americans, buses are mythical creature. So go easy on them for not knowing it. They rediscovered trains but they think it's bad for them because their oil companies said trains don't look like cars or can fly.

[@keithkyli]

I live in Hong Kong and have travelled to Macau several times, using the ferry in the past but now I prefer the bridge bus. I don't live near the ferry piers in Hong Kong, so it would take me about 1 hour to reach the pier, which is the same amount of time to get to the bridge border control. The ferry itself takes about 1 hour (not including early arrival and waiting time) while the bus takes about 45 minutes (hop on as you arrive). The ferry piers and bridge border control on the Macau side have free shuttle buses going to the casinoes and normal buses to the historic city centre, so no difference there. All in all, crossing the bridge takes similar time as taking the ferry, if not less. The overall cost of using the bridge is lower than the ferry, and the bridge offers more flexibility as you don't need to follow a schedule like the ferry; you can just hop on a bus any time you want. That's why the ferry never fully recovered after the pandemic: before the bridge opened, ferries used to depart every 10-15 minutes; now the interval is 30 or 60 minutes depending on the time of day, while all midnight travel goes through the bridge. Not to mention the bridge is suitable for those vulnerable to getting seasick. The paperwork requirements for driving across the bridge are not inherently the fault of the bridge and can be negotiated by the governments. The bridge is so popular among the more affluet drivers that the border control gets congested on long holidays. I have to admit that the traffic scenario is somewhat different from what was expected: It was expected that the bridge would attract lorries to carry cargo from factories on the other side of the Pearl River to Hong Kong for export, but as the mainland ports are developing as well, the bridge is now mainly used for leisure travel.

[@2laidragon]

There are at least a million Hong Kongers going to Shenzhen and other Chinese cities every weekends for food and entertainment.

[@kevintang5473]

Yes except those who travel to Shenzhen or Guangzhou don't go through this bridge. Not saying the bridge is useless tho having traveled from HK to macau on a bus. It's surprising how many people travel between these two cities.

[@ubf9812]

You can tell this video is made by Americans because nowhere else is car culture so entrenched in the cultural mindset that they think everywhere of course has the same amount of car usage 😂 Most people just use the bus service, which is reliable and goes more frequently than the ferry.

[@DioBrando-h2x]

For real, his ignorance is showing

[@Hkislandlife]

Some corrections here from a user of this bridge. I have a permit to drive across it, and it's an engineering marvel. You only need one licence, and the permit to cross is easy to get. You do need to be insured on the bridge itself though, and that requires Mainland Chinese insurance, which admittedly is not a very english friendly process, there is some trial and error, but I eventually got there. The trip across on the right side is no big deal and it's extremely quick and efficient. In fact cars from Hong Kong and Macau drive in the Mainland and vice versa all the time, provided they have the plates. The permit itself costs under $200 USD, at least from Hong Kong. The bridge is extremely convenient, especially for where people like I live in Hong Kong and would easily save me over an hour in travel time, not to mention costs. As I have an eight seater and a family with young kids, it is also a way more convenient mode of transport

[@Peter-h9n5p]

finally some new perspectives. thanks for sharing that :D

[@flyviawall4053]

You forget to mention the price tag for private car crossing the bridge. It’s more expensive than taking ferry（RMB$150 per time), let alone walking is faster than driving car in Macau, unless you drive motorbike.

[@Hkislandlife]

@flyviawall4053 not if you're travelling with a family. It saves me a load of time, money and the hassle of getting to the ferry terminal. And then there's the whole waiting for the ferry, boarding/exiting etc. I don't drive around Macau. There is a gigantic carpark at Macau which is also often free or otherwise quite reasonably priced. Ferry of course will suit some people over the bridge but it all comes down to circumstances and it's of course nice to have options.

[@tangjams]

You do need both hk driver's license and mainland. You also need the closed road permit, then you also need insurance for all 3 territories. It's really confusing, especially if coming from the perspective of road tripping in the western world.

[@Peter-h9n5p]

@@tangjams this is a totally different idea from road tripping. You don’t road trip to Macau, so if you live in Hong Kong is most likely that you’ll get a Chinese driver license and drive to China via Shenzhen bay. This is way easier and do not require so many complicated things just a little bit less.

[@iau]

I've crossed it. In a bus. It had quite a lot of transit too. Seemed like a lot of use for an 'useless' bridge.

[@christianbro2]

The bus is quite convenient and cheap compared to the ferry, besides the fact that you have to take two more busses in Hong Kong and Macau

[@jackyeung3677]

Direct buses available too. Way more expensive though

[@Ataniphor]

yeah, but if it was only going to be run by public transportation with a set route, you might as well have just made a train instead.

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

@@Ataniphor A rail bridge would be even more expensive, and not nearly as flexible. You're ignoring, just as this video did, the tons of cargo that this bridge also facilitates. And no, a rail bridge (that also goes underwater for part of its length) that's also suited for cargo trains is even more of a nightmare - a road handles all of that without any extra hassle. There already are rail and air connections anyway, the former just go through the mainland. Which makes sense for cargo btw.

[@wawachan4752]

As a macau resident, this bridge is not USELESS, everyone traveled on this bridge to the country where the are going. I wonder why this creator of this channel said this bridge is useless, probably maybe this video is too outdated and it made a comeback. Please edit this video and do proper research.

[@lam1991hahaha]

The bridge is actually useful. If you take the bus, it’s 1/3 the price of the ferry. And if you are 65 and above you get half price. And time-wise it’s similar if you include all the waiting time and traveling time to the bridge. But it’s really not worth to drive your own car

[@hkrumble]

Calling this bridge useless speaks more to the video authors’ ignorance. I’m a Hong Konger. This bridge is an absolute game changer. Being able to drive directly to Macau from HK and vice versa whenever I want 24/7 is an absolute game changer. Previously, we all had to take a high speed ferry and were subject to long waiting times and rigid ferry schedules. Sure, the bridge may not be as busy now due to the logistics of trying to integrate customs and differing laws of 3 different legal jurisdictions etc but it will get easier over time. This bridge is and will continue to be a vital transportation link.

[@3rdalbum]

Oh yeah, the logistics will get much easier once China drops the whole "one country, two systems" pretense.

[@Fay7666]

Thing is that if you're able to _drive_ on the bridge, you're likely already 0.001%

[@chuheihkg]

Absolutely right. It is said paperwork is major problem. This shall be eased later.

[@kittyluv2564]

those rednecks have no idea how people in Aaia get around. Driving their 30 yr old Hyundai with cracked windshields is what they prefer, and the only thing they can afford.

[@flyviawall4053]

Long waiting time for ferry…just ignorance Before COVID it’s every 15mins, or every 30mins in midnight Think about it: A Macanese and a HKer live in NT Who would get to work in central faster at morning?

[@alexandermathar7780]

It's not useless. They just prioritize public transit. That is quite sensible.

[@cheu1533]

That's a pretty biased perspective from an American. We don't travel in car but by public transport instead. This explains why the figure is not that big comparing to brifges in US and EU. But I do agree there are a lot of space to improve on minimizing the time at the boarders.

[@flyviawall4053]

@@cheu1533 It’s not bias at all. Figures shows it’s under-utilized, overestimated and still can’t beat ferries in terms of passengers. Let alone those lost promises on driving. And these figures are from government. The “American” is just repeating government’s point.

[@johnsullivan8673]

@@flyviawall4053 yet you have people in the comment section who actually live there telling you they use it. Under utilized and “useless” have very different meanings.

[@flyviawall4053]

@@johnsullivan8673 Whilst I’m living there too

[@johnsullivan8673]

@@flyviawall4053 ratio isn’t in your favor

[@jongranada]

2:23 that’s a picture of the Chimelong spaceship, the largest indoor theme park, not the ocean kingdom where the largest aquarium is.

[@willpeters8856]

As a hk resident, I always use this bridge to travel, especially for large family trips. Each ferry ticket cost hkd180 where as it only cost hkd160 for whole family. The bridge is very popular and we can use can use the car to travel within whole canton as area.

[@marcelo55869]

Imagine this guy when he sees the province with more bridges aa the rest of the world. There are bridges to villages with a little more than thousand residents. It's not about the price. It is about the message too. Everyone is getting development.

[@Acumensaber]

The bridge is actually a very useful and convenient link between HK, Macau and Zhuhai. As a resident of the area, I see the bridge as a proactive project that is necessary to accommodate the ever increasing connectivity of the area. I think Half as Interesting really missed the mark with their assessment.

[@peterthehappywaiguoren]

I’ve taken the bridge via a bus. Took the HSR from Shenzhen to Hong Kong then the bridge over to Macau. Bridge is amazing.

[@zimon129]

4:59 the figure is 2.3 million in 2023 despite hong kong is not reopen by covid untill march. And the daily vechile/day travelled this year so far is 16000/day because the policy you mentioned in 4:35 " Hong Kong Cars Going North" has actually lifted the limit at 2023 july. And they are accepting 600 applicants per day starting in 2024 June. If spreading false information isn't this channel only goal. I suggest you do more research before publishing any video. Relying solely on one article published by voice of America is crazy.

[@Tesswrench111]

This video is very obviously from an american perspective, focusing on individual cars. Most people in Macau or HK do not own cars and the places are way too dense to invite lots of outside car traffic anyway. Serious carpooling is literally the buses that run on the bridge all the time.

[@alexmarcweiss]

Took the bus from Macau to Hong Kong airport across the bridge earlier this year. Actually thought it was more convenient than the ferry if you are flying out of Hong Kong. The border crossings in Zhuhai and Hong Kong were very streamlined. Luggage drop off for the bus was easy. The bridge itself was mostly empty. However, loved the views and the overall experience.

[@mr.alexiegaming9548]

As someone who used to live in the region, I am really really confused on why they didn't include a high speed railway as part of the bridge... a direct HSR between Hong Kong and Macau/Juhai would have been really really useful.

[@someonestolemyname]

Exactly what I was thinking when I was crossing the bridge on a bus and see how empty it is. I thought that they might as well make a rail bridge, if the elevation between tunnel and bridge sections allows. As having a car is more of a luxury in Hong Kong.

[@Enoch916]

The bridge includes huge slopes and trains don't climb well.

[@mr.alexiegaming9548]

@@Enoch916 true, HSR don't climb well. But I still think normal trains going around 200km/h (D-class trains in China) should still be able to work fine

[@johanneswerner7649]

HSR can do 4% gradient. I doubt the bridge exceeds this.

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

A rail bridge would be even more expensive, and not nearly as flexible. You're ignoring, just as this video did, the tons of cargo that this bridge also facilitates. And no, a rail bridge (that also goes underwater for part of its length) that's also suited for cargo trains is even more of a nightmare - a road handles all of that without any extra hassle. There already are rail and air connections anyway, the former just go through the mainland. Which makes sense for cargo btw.

[@hogo21]

The ferry rides are brutal for those with serious motion sickness, riding the bus is so much easier and quicker !

[@buntyman1053]

@1:27 The Eiffel Tower is famously made of iron, not steel, so presumably this bridge actually contains WAY more steel than 60 Eiffel Towers?

[@bosniakedisniksic]

Steel is an alloy of iron so it would be fewer Eiffel towers if you want pure iron. But it wouldn't be much of a difference since it's only at most a difference of 2% carbon added.

[@kathrynstemler6331]

1:24 The Chrysler building is the tallest brick-clad steel-framed building with Nirostra steel, marble, and aluminum decoration. Not much concrete. Is it enough concrete to make 22 Chrysler shaped buildings out of concrete? Otherwise I’m a bit worried about the bridge.

[@aryanthakur5093]

Missed the one hundred in 127 billion-Yuan 0:49

[@SKAOG21]

another mistake for the mistakes video

[@EstablishedFlight]

Many people actually own special licenses and two car plates and ferry people across to the mainland/macau as part of their jobs. I actually paid someone to bring me and my family from Shenzhen to Hong Kong last month which cost 1600 RMB (around 213 USD, which is a good deal for 4 people)

[@onlyyoucanstopevil9024]

This is why u must ask hk or macau native about this bridge before make this video

[@patrickk6331]

I was driven on that bridge, going from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. Yes our driver needed dual plates. One for Hong Kong and one for China. Truly fun experience.

[@robgriffin8318]

I’ve been over the bridge after landing in Hong Kong. There are mini buses that’s run between the airport terminal and Zhuhai or Macau. You go through customs 3 times which is absurd.

[@superstraight2667]

Locals only have to do it once between HK and MO, twice when going to the Mainland

[@bassereric]

That's no longer the way. You don't need to enter HK now if you are transiting to/from airport. Same as the airport ferry, you use the SkyPier facility and board the buses then clear customs only once at either Zhuhai or Macau.

[@buxi9428]

I literally just took this bridge yesterday - the bus was super convenient for getting from Zhuhai to HK in about 45 min. Alternative would have been 2+ hours. This level of infrastructure integration is fabulous.

[@williamkou7923]

As a resident in Macau who needs to take long haul flights every year at the HKIA, the bridge has provided a better alternative, where the check in procedures can be done in Macau for quite a few airlines. It saves a lot of time as the queue is only limited to the passengers of the shuttle bus. I can’t agree that travellers still tend to take the ferry as fares are way higher and there are fewer operating now.

[@kimlau4285]

As a person who used the bridge, the worst part is the bridge will only get you to the outskirts of both cities, while the ferry will get you to city centre straight away

[@delta006yt]

3:00 Anyone noticed the truck going backwards?

[@BS-vx8dg]

Nice try, Delta, but actually that's a special kind of truck specifically designed for this route; it has the driver's cab placed on the *_back_* of the trailer to further complicate matters and thus discourage driving over the bridge.

[@SenshiSunPower]

It's got two fronts. I think it's made for this edge case, like a train.

[@UltimateAzumanger]

gotta love reversed footage!

[@henriqueaugustus1761]

It's TENET technology. It's going backwards in time.

[@grapesofwrath1984]

“Borderline useless”? Really? I always use it and thousands use it everyday. Surely beats taking the boat and definitely the helicopter. It’s actually this video that’s borderlines useless.

[@flyviawall4053]

@@grapesofwrath1984 Please specify your use case, like drive? from which point to which point? or bus? from which to which? We cant compare or even understand more with one’s opinion without context. Similarly, you can’t represent all users, specially those still taking ferries. So please specify to proof your point.

[@grapesofwrath1984]

@ I usually take the bus, because that’s how most users do it. And buses depart regularly, several times in an hour. Not many private vehicles use it because the bureaucracy and the cost for that makes it quite impractical. Might as well have another car waiting on the other end. Now, how does one’s use case “proof a point”? I think you mean “prove a point.” The fact that a lot of people use it, no matter what the use case is, makes it far from useless. By the way, ferry service usually gets disrupted during inclement weather, which isn’t rare in the area.

[@johnsullivan8673]

@@flyviawall4053 why are you seething so hard?

[@flyviawall4053]

@@johnsullivan8673 Because judging if a bridge is useless MUST consider the utilization of the bridge, not a personal perspective

[@flyviawall4053]

@@grapesofwrath1984 very easy, if you compare the figures of ferry(HK Macau) and HZMB, the HZMB seems makes highly volume. But if you also compare the number of entries categorized by origin, Chinese is no doubt overwhelmed, which proof my point: A HZB is OK, but a HZMB is useless. The ferry was VERY frequent, in fact more frequent then bus nowadays. Also it was heavily discounted back then, which is impossible because the decline of passenger. Besides, the HK gov did absolutely terrible in terms of supporting after Hong Kong. The only public transport way you can connect to MTR outside of Lantau is 1hr bus in Tsing Yi. Thus, new bridge but 2x slower? I bet your pardon?!

[@culverkwan9834]

I went from Hong Kong to Macau and back during my Christmas vacation. The bus is much cheaper, and the connection between the bus ports and the city centers of both cities is quite convenient if you know what to take. I think that building the bridge is justified.

[@Connor_Roush]

They’re not putting a train track? Lmao.

[@shawnjoseph4009]

Robert Moses approves this useless bridge without trains

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

A rail bridge would be even more expensive, and not nearly as flexible. You're ignoring, just as this video did, the tons of cargo that this bridge also facilitates. And no, a rail bridge (that also goes underwater for part of its length) that's also suited for cargo trains is even more of a nightmare - a road handles all of that without any extra hassle. There already are rail and air connections anyway, the former just go through the mainland. Which makes sense for cargo btw.

[@shawnjoseph4009]

@@ArawnOfAnnwn considering China has a really well developed rail network it is a little bit baffling there isn’t a rail link on this bridge

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

@@shawnjoseph4009 If you have a well developed rail network, you have less need for more rail. They can just use the rail that already exists.

[@alexxie6963]

​@@shawnjoseph4009 And since China is so good at building railways they also know where *not* to build one

[@marcuscyl6653]

I took the bus to Macao and Zhuhai just a few days ago, it was aight. We do have shuttle buses that travel across the bridge so it is heavily used right now. The HZMB Hong Kong port was packed with ppl waiting for the Shuttle bus. While it may not be the most effective, it is cheaper than a turbojet. The bus costs 65 Hong Kong dollars per passenger while the ship ticket is 175 HK dollars.

[@bukwok]

the bridge not really built for private vehicles or normal car owner, its very different from west like USA, in Hong Kong most of people use public transportation , cheap and convenient ,those people who driving his own car to mainland are business people, the bridge mainly for bus , make sense or not all depends on location where you live where you want to go, choice always good, but the bridge is useless ?? no , but expensive ? yes.

[@Feuerhamster]

Bridge video when it's "western" country: How this BRIDGE is an AMAZING feat of ENGINEERING Bridge video when it's slightly to the south and/or east: How this USELESS DUMB BRIDGE is RUINING everything, everywhere, forever

[@BatCountryAdventures]

This video might be a little behind. China has recently made getting the permit much easier so every major holidays, Hong Kongers would flood across the bridge resulting in traffic jams at the gates. Getting two licenses is easy because you just need the HK one, then apply for the mainland version without needing to take any extra tests.

[@flyviawall4053]

@@BatCountryAdventures That’s not HZMB, but Shen-Zhong channel…

[@MathGPT]

We all know this bridge is a flex, it has nothing to do with economics (as is often the case with China) but a demonstration of their seeming dominance over neighboring countries

[@wedmunds]

Idiot 😂😂😂

[@RicciChoi1109]

Fact: A rule of thumb is if you are not travelling to or from the New Territories, you'd better go to the ferry terminals (in Tsim Sha Tsui and Sheung Wan) and ride on the old way: high-speed ferries.

[@MarsMoonEuropa]

Are you sure it’s that hard to get across for Hong Kong residents? I was in Hong Kong recently and my friend could drive right across into China easily but I had to get out and clear immigration. We did this heaps of times, it was pretty fast for me considering but I had to get out and walk then they stamped my passport and I joined him on the other side. It was instant for him though he didn’t even have to get out of the car So yeah for foreigners it’s a pain, maybe for mainland Chinese too But I think if you’ve got the right card they just wave you through right? My friend came to pick me up from the HK airport and came from Macau. He got through quick but my other friend got stuck in customs for 30 min because he’s Australian. So they had to seperate and he came and got me first

[@markverbruggen7868]

Interesting story. Yet, I tend to believe that the bridge has been built with the long term in mind (like all large megaprojects). With this in mind, I think the project will be proven very useful in the future, if it is not already. The difficult bureaucracy will certainly not be forever, while the bridge does form a link between two important regions and contributes to the overal infrastructure along the Chinese coast. About the bridge appearing quite empty: I can imagine that the bridge authorities already does try to prioritize public transportation and commercial traffic over private vehicles - initially in various ways, but in the end still by introducing high tolls for private (non commercial) vehicles. You don't want to have heavy traffic on a bridge like that, since in case of calamities and accidents, the bridge is hard to reach by help services (it's for example quite impossible to land an helicopter alongside a bridge over open water). To cross the Oresont bridge between Denmark and Sweden with a private car, one have to pay at least 30 euros per crossing. More or less the same for the Storebelt bridge between the Danish islands of Fyn and Sjealland. But a train ticket over each of those two bridges cost significantly less. Since the geographical situation in the Hong Kong area is different, the Hong Kong - Zhuhai - Macau bridge has not a rail connection included (that means: not yet). But there are busses. 🚌

[@josephwang5859]

Also the bridge to nowhere is also not going to nowhere. Part of the cost of the bridge involved creating a transport hub, which means at the border crossing with Macau with Zhuhai, they have built this huge shopping mall and apartment complexes. So for 50 US dollars a night, I am getting a 2 bedroom suite at the customs gate thats 15 minutes from the big resorts and casinos with this massive shopping mall at the border so things are packed. The point of the bridge was less to develop Macau than Zhuhai.

[@danielbob5191]

As a frequent user of this bridge via buses, I think you’re missing the point

[@DavidTonner]

Thanks!

[@AlanLin1995]

It's funny to see locals are all dunking on this video of nonsense

[@josephwang5859]

Also things here move fast. When I got to the bridge this evening, I found out that there is this massive shopping mall at the bridge border crossing that wasnt here six months ago, and if you go north they are building this big residental complex. Because there is so much real estate, people have been setting up adhoc hotels. The reason I ended up here was I originally was planning on going back to HK for New Year but then I found out that I could stay overnight at the border crossing. Two bedroom suite on new years eve for 50 USD a night.

[@trainlagthegame]

0:48 127 billion, not 27

[@Siempre1978]

"Build it and they will come" That's proven correct for ALL of the major PRC Infrastructure Projects.

[@ax-uo5hd]

It is definitely not useless, as someone who is living there lots of people use it to commute and transport cargo.

[@flyviawall4053]

@@ax-uo5hd I wonder how you come up with the conclusion of cargo transportation. Do you know both 3 places have their own cargo ferry terminal? Two of them are international and top 5(at least were). Which company will stupid enough to let one truck driver tow one container across the bridge instead of using ferry for hundreds and lower cost? Please specify at least one. Or, which lorry got 3 licenses? I reckon even that exists.

[@randomcow505]

@@flyviawall4053 tons, you can literaly see them in the video you just watched

[@KingofDrama1]

Depending on where you live in Hong Kong, it is faster to take the bus to Macau than to take the ferry.

[@kansaibeyond]

I know tons of my family & friends who live in Hong Kong who would take the bus to Macau, because as others say, most people in Hong Kong don't own a car anyway. And good alternative to people who don't like the boat due to seasickness and infrequency. The buses are extremely frequent. The only issue with the bus is, according to my Macau friend - the road to the bus terminus in Macau is ALWAYS jammed with traffic as it bottlenecks at one point. There's also no local hotel shuttle nor direct local bus (you'd have to change buses depending where you are) to the bus terminus.

[@OldGeezer101]

all the big casinos have shuttle buses at HZMB port, just hard to figure out where and when to board them to get out. I'm pretty sure both the Wynn in downtown and Cotai have them going there. The last time I let Apple/Google maps tell me which bus to take to get to back to HZMB, only 6 MOP every time I change to a different bus

[@lieutenanteclipse9975]

I own a car and I never really considered getting the temporary permit, despite the paperwork being fairly simple nowadays. For me at least (and some people I know), the driving style between HK and mainland differs so much (mainly HK being small and very strict with traffic laws) that it's hazardous to drive in mainland if you're not familiar with how mainland traffic flows. Also, if I were to travel back to mainland, the northern border is much more well-established and easier to deal with in public transport. I'm fortunate enough to afford a car (thanks mom for the parking spot) but having to wade through the entire Hong Kong and through the bridge really isn't a good use of gas money...

[@simon6658]

I apologize, but this bridge is not useless. I have used it 40 times in less than 2 years, travelling from Macau to Hong Kong.

[@57ttocs]

I went over this bridge in October this year! It cut travel time between Hong Kong and my in laws village in half! What was a full travel day is now an afternoon joirney.

[@nickkings7881]

This seems like a military project but that would make it all the way interesting LOL

[@hwg5039]

Military project are you kidding me??? Tell me how the PLA needs this bridge to enter Macau or HK? And they are already stationed in both cities btw.

[@soasertsus]

This seems like a biased perspective, love them or hate them one of the things the Chinese government does best is long term planning. Even if the bridge is nowhere near capacity now, in the future at some point it will definitely become extremely useful and they're getting ahead of the curve by getting it in place early as opposed to the way the US handles infrastructure investment which is to wait until it's way too late and the existing transportation infrastructure is so overcrowded that it's a massive problem. Ultimately all that's needed to immediately make the bridge usable is some bureaucratic agreements between the local governments to allow each other's drivers licenses and local services to apply, even just for the bridge crossing portion, and when it becomes necessary that's a lot easier to work out than to build a whole bridge. They should have put a rail line on it though.

[@wpgc2]

It is already quite useful, the bridge moves over 2 million passengers per month and utilization rate is keep going up. They had over 20k vehicles daily during busiest days. The video based on outdated data and North America mentality that no one takes public transit.

[@calvincoolidge1207]

Very good point. You see some metro stops at remote villages. However, the government knows certain cities are booming and in 10 years, those areas will have housing estates. It is much cheaper building ahead of time. Florida is an example of the govt. not planning ahead and then spending huge amounts to fix the problems.

[@chuheihkg]

Haven't they forgotten plan in advance? In Asian talks or In Brazilian talks, If you spot one bamboo branch go wrong (that is flower grown), then something must go wrong. It's not just PRC talk.

[@wpgc2]

@@chuheihkg If you are referrring to highspeed rail on HZMB. The idea was considered but dropped quickly due to complexitiy and cost of the project even without any railroad integration. The idea of the bridge is to facilitate land based commute within the Greater Bay Area.

[@PrograError]

@@wpgc2 TBH they did kinda build a second span further up stream... just less border crossing...

[@mattydoherty3784]

You could have mentioned the newly opened Shenzhen to Zhongshan bridge which is very useful on cutting down travel time. Costing around $13 for s car to travel over. The HK bridge is not so useful today, but judge it in 20 years when the entire region is closer to being unified. If they built it in the future, costs will be much higher. They built it to develop the economy by providing jobs, while labour costs were still lower than what they are now

[@jameswootton1688]

You lost 100 billion Yuan. You could've built 5 useless bridges with that!

[@superstraight2667]

Macau pays that back from gambling taxes in less than 5 years. Monetary Circulation.

[@Mafiooso686]

You don’t need to get out of your car for boarder patrol on the Hong Kong side btw , you only need to hand your id and the patrol officer counts the people and he gives the id back and your ok. (He won’t touch your car or anything)

[@daverapp]

The bridge being made from enough steel to make 60 Eiffel towers is an even more impressive accomplishment when you realize that the Eiffel Tower is made of wrought iron and not steel.

[@CharlieBarbarossa]

What about trucks? Is there a lot of cargo moved on the bridge?

[@AbigailBacker-l5j]

Every time you post, it’s a vibe. Keep it up!

[@PeasRYummy]

Is that Sam Denby from the hit web series Jet Lag: The Game?

[@maxladr]

“Traffic is always pretty light” when a public holiday arrives in Hong Kong and it’s 11:30pm when everyone is trying to rush home with the traffic so bad it’s overflowing onto the highway entrance before the mainland checkpoint and even the map application a lot of people use in the mainland is giving motivational speeches (the last one is no joke):

[@789know]

American doesn't understand public transport

[@CoryPchajek]

“Traffic is always pretty light” is such an insane thing to say in reference to Hong Kong traffic. It really depends on the time of day and the situation.

[@flyviawall4053]

For context: 3 places come with there own, international and VERY HIGH volume cargo ferry terminal. With very mature customs workflow and physically next to terminals, and 4hours trip from any to any, and also WAY CHEAPER than trucks, whoever say the bridge benefits cargo is just a lie. The real benefit is personal parcels, which explains why the bridge is so empty.(And parcels still use ferry, SF still do it via Tsing Yin to Macau),

[@datdamnmonkey]

The bridge itself makes sense, it cuts the travel time between HK and Macau significantly. I once took the bus across this bridge to Macau because the ferry was not running that day due to the weather. If the bridge was not there I wouldn't have had the chance to visit Macau. What is bothersome is the bureaucracy behind it, but that goes beyond the bridge. For example, I couldn't withdraw money from my Mainland Chinese bank account in Macau because my account was associated with my foreign passport. The lady at the bank said I had to go to Zhuhai (the closest Mainland city) to be able to withdraw money. I was able to use HK dollars and Yuans in Macau because they accept those in addition to the local Patacas. HK, Macau and Mainland China just have to find a way to streamline more the bureaucracy between each region.

[@Monkey_D_Luffy56]

My AdBlocker is going crazy whenever I watch on this channel It prompts " skipped filler " every 5 seconds 🤣🤣🤣

[@jessetorres8738]

Trivia note: The U.S. game show The Amazing Race has been on for 36 Seasons, they have been to China for 9 of them (1, 6, 10, 14, 16, 18, 21, 24, & 28), they have been to Hong Kong for 5 of them (2, 11, 17, 27, & 30), & they have been to Macau for just 2 of them (11 & 27).

[@CanMav]

The fact that they went to mainland China shows the show was fake. They would have needed visas to enter. SO it was all predetermined.

[@GentryDeYoung-l6z]

Jet Lag the game is still better

[@SenorBigDong69]

So they’ve been to China in 14 seasons?

[@lydiaxiao7057]

Jet lag reference?

[@TekniCaliSpeakin]

That's not trivia. Trivia implies that other people will care

[@skpracta]

The toll fee collected cannot cover the maintenance cost of the main bridge, not even talking about the interest of the construction cost (it is built by loans)...

[@lieutenanteclipse9975]

(Every major infrastructure around here is funded by loans) At least in Hong Kong, most tunnels with tolls are built by outsourcing to a company, who will have sth like 20-30 yrs of franchising and recouping & profitting from the tunnel tolls before being reclaimed by the government.

[@skpracta]

@ You are correct, it is called Build-Operate-transfer (BOT). they have done it on the Guangzhou - Shenzhen expressway, and they also have considered to do BOT on HZMB, But finally the governments decided to build and operate by themselves (with government money and loans) instead.

[@ancova1183]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the Zhuhai Bridge bus tour for mainland Chinese who cross the bridge from Macau, and then just do a loop around the island before heading back to Zhuhai. It was immensely popular during the pandemic, and let mainland Chinese get close to HK without a visa.

[@mattbowdenuh]

It served a very good purpose. All that steel and concrete had to go to something with the slowdown in housing construction. God forbid they cut back on production and lay people off because that makes GDP go down. Much better to build a bridge that nobody can practically use.

[@ArchOfWinter]

The toll money collected goes to Mainland organizations, but maintenance cost still paid by the Hong Kong government (tax payers). Very colonial sounding policy. Practicality wise, the bridge is hard to get to in both HK and Macau, only via afew bus lines. On the HK side, their metro's airport express lines has a station that could be one short bridge away, but they never included a station into the border control checkpoint island design, so one can't even be added in later. Additionally, even if they didn't add high speed rail into the bridge, the conventional rail HK use can still cut down the travel time across the bridge in half.

[@keiyakins]

But Hong Kong is physically adjacent to China so it's okay for Beijing to be a colonial power! /s

[@mxn1948]

hong kong doesnt pay a single penny in taxes to the central government nor does it contribute anything to the defense fund. Hong Kong has it good.

[@superstraight2667]

Over 95% of water and power is supplied by the Mainland too

[@UnderstandingCode]

@@mxn1948 Narrator seeing the response to the Hong Kong protests: It did not.

[@noobymooby-ty8gh]

​@@keiyakins you're the type of person to support britain keeping hongkong and say it's not colonization unironically

[@Barceman]

Everyone here be like bus is way cheaper and more convenient, but does it worth 127 billion? Hell no

[@BS-vx8dg]

It's a pain to use now because of the "One country, two systems" rule, but *a)* that agreement expires in 2047, and *b)* China is clearly moving toward annulling that agreement even earlier. China has taken away Hong Kong's free expression rights, has violated its self-government rights, and so making everyone drive on the right side of the road is no big deal. I predict that by 2030, China will create a Schengen Area type arrangement for the Pearl River Delta and then drivers in Hong Kong will be able to cross the bridge without any of those customs issues and _then_ the bridge will no longer be so empty of traffic.

[@xiphoid2011]

Bridges need to maintained and cost lots of money. 25 years of maintain cost is likely just as much as the building cost.

[@BS-vx8dg]

@@xiphoid2011 I genuinely love your name. My high school anatomy teacher was always telling us to be extremely careful when doing the Heimlich Maneuver that we makes sure we did not strike the xiphoid process, lest we kill the person instead of saving their life.

[@p24ify]

It's a white elephant project.

[@danielb2571]

Shiny new cool thing brought to you by the over controlling power of the CCP.

[@MrNicoJac]

Annulling that agreement earlier is a lot easier if you could send in some tanks. And those go across a bridge much easier than having to get on a ferry. But maybe I'm being too cynical?