The main islands Hong Kong Island and Lantau are both connected to the Kowloon peninsula with bridges and tunnels, both for road and rail traffic. As public transport is well-developed, the rate of car ownership is fairly low.
Most mass and local transit takes advantage of the Octopus card for fare collection. The city is accessible by an efficient MTR subway system, buses, light buses, electric tram and taxi cabs.
The whole system is 800 meters long, the vertical climb is 135 meters. Total travel time is 20 minutes, but most people walk while the system moves to shorten the travel time. Due to its vertical climb, the same distance is equivalent to several miles of zigzagging roads if travelled by car. It consists of 20 escalators and 3 moving sidewalks. Daily traffic exceeds 35000 people. It has been operating since 1993. It cost HK$ 240 million (around US $30 million) to build.
East Rail: total 34 km, standard gauge (1.435-m gauge), all electrified. 13 stations connecting Lo Wu to Hung Hom.
West Rail: total 30.5 km, 9 stations connecting Tuen Mun to Nam Cheong.
Light Rail Transit: Light railway system totalling 36.15 km. 68 stations serving the northwest New Territories.
Several extensions planned and under construction, including Ma On Shan Rail, Lok Ma Chau Spur line, Tsim Sha Tsui Extension, Kowloon Southern Link, and Sha Tin to Central Link.
Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTR) - 6 lines, 50 stations
There are also a variety of non-franchised public buses services, including feeder bus services to railway stations operated by the railway companies, and residents' services for residential estates (particularly those in the New Territories).
The green ones operates scheduled services, with fixed routes and fixed fares. There are currently around 250 fixed green PLB routes with route numbers assigned. Payments can be made in exact fare. Most of them accept Octopus card too.
PLBs can only hold 16 passengers in maximum without any standing space. They are slightly more expensive than buses but run much more frequently and take a more direct route than buses. Passengers wish to get on the minibuses usually waives there hands at PLB stops or unrestricted roads to stop them. To get off, passengers have to shout to the driver to tell him/her where do they want to stop. Therefore, PLB is not common for foreign passengers.
Taxi fare is charged according to the taximeter (addtional charges in fare table may apply). Red urban taxis are the most expensive, and the blue Lantau taxis are the cheapest. The standard of services among them are mostly the same.
As of 2003, there are 18,138 taxis in Hong Kong, of which 15,250 are urban taxis, 2,838 are NT taxis and 50 are Lantau taxis. Everyday they serve about 1.1 million, 207,900 and 1,400 people respectively.
Merchant marine: total:
271 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 7,942,646 GRT/13,101,275 DWT
ships by type:
barge carrier 1, bulk 157, cargo 28, chemical tanker 5, combination bulk 2, container 53, liquified gas 5, multi-functional large load carrier 2, petroleum tanker 14, short-sea passenger 1, vehicle carrier 3 (1999 est.)
note:
a flag of convenience registry; includes ships from 13 countries among which are UK 16, South Africa 3, China 9, Japan 6, Bermuda 2, Germany 3, Canada 2, Cyprus 1, Belgium 1, and Norway 1 (1998 est.)
Fastferry services by hydrofoil and catamarans between Hong Kong and Macau is available 24 hours a day, every day. Gamblers from Hong Kong often take a one-day excursion to that city.
TurboJet provides 24-hour services, connecting Central and Macau, with highest frequency of 15 minutes. It also provides the following regular services:
East Asia Airlines operates a regular helicopter service between Macau Ferry Terminal and Shun Tak Centre. There are around 16 daily helicopter round-trips. Flights take approximately 20 minutes in the eight-seat aircraft.
There are also a number of helipads across the territory, including:
Roof of the Peninsula Hotel - the only rooftop helipad in the territory, excluding the rooftop heliport of Shun Tak Centre and those in hospitals
Cheung Chau island, between Tung Wan Beach and Kwun Yam Beach
