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A telephone survey was conducted from 20 to 25 April 2018 by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) to gauge public opinions on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (hereafter, “the bridge”) which is pending to be commissioned soon. 703 respondents were successfully interviewed, with a response rate of 35.5%. The sampling error was estimated at plus or minus 3.70 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. 

Major findings are summarised as follows: 

Over half of the respondents concurred the benefits for trade or tourism in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (hereafter, “the Greater Bay Area”) after the bridge’s commissioning for vehicle traffic. 51.5% of the respondents expected the benefits of the bridge for trade in the Greater Bay Area to be “large” or “very large”, while 37.7% regarded the benefits to be “very little” or “not at all”. The rest (10.8%) of them did not know or felt hard to answer. Similarly, 52.7% of the respondents expected the benefits of the bridge for tourism in the Greater Bay Area to be “large” or “very large”, while 37.2% opined the benefits to be “very little” or “not at all”. The rest (10.1%) of them did not know or felt hard to answer. 

However, opinions of the respondents were divided on the economic benefits of the bridge to Hong Kong’s future. 42.8% of them expected the economic benefits to be “large” or “very large”, while 46.2% of them thought the benefits to be “very little” or “not at all”. The rest (11.0%) did not know or felt hard to answer. 

Comparatively larger number of the respondents chose to ride a bus via the bridge to Macao, Zhuhai or other mainland cities of the western Pearl River Delta. 38.5% of the respondents would ride a bus to Macao via the bridge, in contrast to 26.3% of them who would travel by ferries. 11.8% would use both means, while 5.3% might depend on circumstances. The rest (18.1%) did not know, felt hard to answer or did not intend to visit Macao. When the destination was Zhuhai or other mainland cities of the western Pearl River Delta, 32.6% of the respondents would ride a bus via the bridge, in contrast to 20.9% by ferries. 16.4% would use both means, while 5.0% might depend on circumstances. The rest (25.2%) did not know, felt hard to answer, or did not intend to visit those places. 

The bridge could facilitate vehicle traffic between Hong Kong, Macao and the western Pearl River Delta, but might not help encourage respondents visiting those places more. 51.1% of the respondents do not intend to visit Macao more often after the bridge was commissioned, while 31.2% intend to do so. The rest (17.7%) did not know or felt hard to answer. When the destinations are mainland cities of the western Pearl River Delta, 54.6% of the respondents would not expect to visit them more often, while 24.6% would do so. The rest (20.8%) did not know or felt hard to answer. 

The bridge could shorten travel time in the Greater Bay Area, but might not increase the respondents’ willingness to relocate to Zhuhai or Macao while commuting to work in Hong Kong. 39.8% of the respondents doubted the feasibility of commuting to work in Hong Kong while living in Macao, while 35.0% considered it feasible. The rest (25.2%) did not know or felt hard to tell. If relocation changed to Zhuhai, more respondents (48.2%) doubted the feasibility of commuting to work in Hong Kong, while 28.3% agreed to the feasibility. The rest (23.5%) did not know or felt hard to tell.