Transit problem: how do you move 7 million people daily?

According to the HK government, there are 7.15 million residents in Hong Kong (see here for more detail).

Not everyone needs to be on the roads of course, some stay at home or walk to their destinations, but there still remains a large number of commuters to move around in a relatively short time. In fact, according to this document, the transit system has to cater to a staggering 12.5 millions journeys every work day.

Traffic and road congestion are part of a daily commute, whether you go by car (private or taxi), mini, public or private bus, train, ferry, tram or even hop on the longest escalators in the the world.

However, commuting in Hong Kong still makes for a very decent experience. People are organized in queues and bus stops clearly indicate where to stand so all can board in the same order as per their arrival in the line-up. Most buses are huge double-deckers who can accommodate up to 136 passengers for most of them (90 seated and 46 standing). These double deck buses were first introduced into Hong Kong in 1949 and are air-conditioned, equipped with CCTV showing little snippets of news, song clips and advertisement, quite comfortable seats and of course, a payment system by Octopus card.

The Octopus card is an institution and one of the reasons transit systems are so efficient in users' boarding: no one looses time looking for small change, drivers do not have to give any change back and you are to have your card handy before boarding.  Octopus cards can be bought at any  MTR station (MTR stands for Mass Transit Railway) and recharged there or at any Seven/Eleven, CircleK or other joints advertising recharging services.  Many shops accept payment by Octopus cards, including most major food store chains and people have gotten accustomed to paying smaller amounts by swiping their card in font of a reader for a faster, more convenient and safer payment experience. No need to carry cumbersome loose change any more!!!

The Octopus card is a transportation ticket that doubles as an electronic wallet, it is a simple as that, and this simplicity makes the beauty of it. Using it is a breeze and ones get really quickly used to its convenience, so much that travelling to other countries will soon make you regret this Hong Kong feature dearly.

If you want to know more about the bus services, some information can be found here and here, and for the railway, check out what the MTR Corporation says here.  For more information about Octopus cards, check out their website here. You'll be able to see that cards come in all sizes and colours and that objects can double as Octopus cards, whether little trinkets or watches too!