Transportation

Hong Kong enjoys one of the most efficient mass public transport systems in the world. More than eleven million journeys are made every day on public transport.  The physical form of our city is shaped by the different and the overlapping transportation systems.  Points of their intersection and interchange become hubs of activity across the city.

But the ultimate issue remains, why do we need to travel?

Because we are not where we need to be (i.e. we don’t live where we work, or close to our families), so we spend large amounts of our time traveling.

As mobility increases, as transportation becomes faster and more cost efficient we end up traveling further and more often.   But traveling costs, in terms of the fuel and the vehicle, and all their attendant production and distribution costs.  We should also factor in the land that transportation systems take up, the pollution generated and impacts on communities. The rise in middle classes and increased life expectancy has sharply increased the volume of travel for leisure / tourism.  This is a luxury and that the planet simply cannot afford.

Although most visions of the future have typically included sophisticated / fantastic new modes of travel, in a truly sustainable future we are not likely to travel at all … and the development of personal communication devices might just help us kick this habit.