Queues stretch past an hour as traffic jams hit mega bridge during Easter, Ching Ming

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, a critical transport link, faced severe congestion during the recent Easter and Ching Ming holiday period, marking one of its busiest stretches in recent years. According to Ringo Lee Yiu-pui of the China Hong Kong Automobile Association, passenger flows exceeded 192,000 and vehicle numbers surpassed 30,000 in the first two days alone. This surge led to checkpoint queues frequently stretching beyond an hour, straining the bridge's clearance arrangements and highlighting a bottleneck in cross-boundary travel.

The congestion is largely attributed to the bridge's unique role under the 'Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles' scheme, launched in 2023. This policy makes the bridge the only route available for ordinary Hong Kong private cars to travel north into Guangdong without a traditional cross-boundary permit, subject to a daily quota. During peak holidays, this single corridor must handle not only these northbound private vehicles—often traveling in groups of three to five cars—but also southbound mainland traffic, freight, and passenger buses. The situation is exacerbated by immigration procedures that require passengers to disembark for clearance while drivers wait in vehicles, further slowing the process. The traffic jam underscores the growing pressure on infrastructure from increased mainland travel and questions the scheme's capacity to handle future demand surges.