Transport Bureau (DSAT) Director Lam Kelvin Lam Hin San announced on Thursday that some 230 million public bus passengers were recorded last year, a new record, a year-on-year increase of over six per cent.
The transport chief also said that last year’s number of senior citizen bus passengers increased 20 per cent year-on-year, amounting to 2.3 million per month on average, or 27 million for the whole of 2019.
Lam made the remarks while speaking to reporters after chairing a regular meeting of the government-appointed Traffic Consultative Council at the bureau.
According to the bureau’s website, the number of public bus passengers increased from 137 million in 2011 to 215 million in 2018. During the period, the number hit a new record every year.
According to the website, the number of bus passengers per day on average increased from 371,300 in 2011 to 588,200 in 2018. During the first nine months of last year, the average number of bus passengers per day further increased to 622,100.
In a statement in late October last year, the bureau said that the number of bus passengers a day hit a record high of 762,000 on October 4 – the fourth day of the mainland’s seven-day National Day Golden Week holiday period, replacing the previous record on May 2 last year, when 732,000 bus passengers were recorded.
Lam also said on Thursday that the police recorded 13,690 traffic accidents last year, a 0.5 per cent drop from the previous year. There were eight fatalities in traffic accidents last year, two less than in 2018, Lam said.
According to the Macau Post Daily, Lam noted that there were 14 fatalities in traffic accidents in 2015, after which the number per year ranged between 8 and 10 from 2016 to last year.
According to official statistics, Macau had a population of 676,100 at the end of September. An average of 100,000 visitor arrivals were recorded last year.
