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.
Hong Kong Island is dominated by steep, hilly terrain, which makes it the home of some rather unusual methods of transport up and down the slopes. In the Central and Western district there is an extensive system of escalators and moving sidewalks. The Midlevels Escalator is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world, operating downhill in the morning for commuters going to work, and working uphill the rest of the time.
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.
There are 12 vehicular tunnels in Hong Kong. They include 3 cross-harbor tunnels and 9 road tunnels. The cross-harbor tunnels are: Cross-Harbour Tunnel (opened 1972), Eastern Harbour Crossing (1989), Western Harbour Crossing (1997). They connect Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula across Victoria Harbour.
Bridges include:
Five companies operate franchised public bus services in Hong Kong:
Many minibuses (red roof) and maxicabs (green roof) typically serve areas less accessible by buses.
Taxis of different colours serve different areas:
There are 517,000 vehicles with license in Hong Kong, including 64% private cars.
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.)
There are many ferries connecting the islands to each other and to the mainland. A ferry service by hydrofoil 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.
The following companies operate ferries in Hong Kong:
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 3
over 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (1999 est.)
Kai Tak International Airport was famous, but it was retired as an airport in favor of "Chek Lap Kok International Airport", which is another name for Hong Kong International Airport. The latter now serves as the region's main gateway.
There are also a number of helipads across the territory, including:
