Transport in Macau includes road, sea, rail and air transport.

Road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

transport is the primary mode of transport within

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

, although a new rail system opened in December 2019 serving the areas of

Taipa Taipa ( zh, t=氹仔, ; , ) is an area in Macau, connected to Coloane through the area known as Cotai, which is largely built from reclaimed land. Located on the northern half of the island, Taipa's population is mostly suburban. Administrativ ...

and

Cotai Cotai ( zh, t=路氹城, cy=Louhtáhm Sìhng; ) is a piece of land reclamation, reclaimed land on the top of the Seac Pai Bay between Taipa and Coloane islands in Macau that has connected two independent islands since 2005. The name, which is ...

. The main forms of public transport are

buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

and

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

s. Modes of transport out of Macau include

ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

from two ferry terminals, as well as

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

service to Hong Kong. International flights are available from

Macau International Airport Macau International Airport is an international airport in the special administrative region of Macau, situated at the eastern end of Taipa island and neighbouring waters. It opened for commercial operations on 9 November 1995, during Portu ...

Internal

Road

Buses and taxis are the major modes of public transport in Macau.

Bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

services are frequent and inexpensive, linking the

Macau peninsula The Macau Peninsula is the historical and most populous part of Macau. It has an area of () and is geographically connected to Guangdong Province at the northeast through an isthmus wide. The peninsula, together with downtown Zhuhai, sits on ...

and

Coloane Coloane ( Chinese: 路環, Portuguese: ''Coloane'') is the southernmost area in Macau, connected to Taipa through the area known as Cotai, which is largely built from reclaimed land. Known as “''Lou Wan''” in Cantonese, Coloane forms the sou ...

Transmac The Transportes Urbanos de Macau S.A.R.L. (Transmac; ) is one of the two public bus operators in Macau, China, along with TCM). It began service in 1988, taking over the service provided by its predecessor "Fok Lei Autocarro S.A.". In Mainl ...

and TCM are the only operators of Macau's bus services.

Nova Era Nova Era is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Belo Horizonte and to the microregion of Itabira. As of 2020, the estimated population was 17,551. See also * List of municipalitie ...

( zh), which took over the operations of Reolian, merged with TCM on 1 August, 2018. Most hotels (four-starred or above) and gaming venues operate their own fleet of shuttle bus service between the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal,

Taipa Ferry Terminal The Taipa Ferry Terminal (; ) is located in Taipa, Macau SAR. It is located in the reclamation area of Pac On and is adjacent to the Macau International Airport. The terminal provides high-speed passenger ferry services from Macau to Hong Ko ...

or Portas do Cerco (Macau's border to mainland China) and their premises. Taxis are plentiful near the airport/Taipa ferry terminal, the Hong Kong-Macau and Taipa ferry terminal, and major gaming venues/hotels in the city though it is harder to get one during rush hours on the streets. Most of Macau's taxis have a black body with cream color top livery. Radio taxis are available for the black cabs. In order to enhance the quality of taxi services, such as eliminate the language barrier between

drivers and passengers, the Tourist Office has provided most taxis with a destination guide which includes the names of the most requested destinations in

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

, Portuguese and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. The

trishaw The cycle rickshaw is a small-scale local means of transport. It is a type of tricycle designed to carry passengers on a for-hire basis. It is also known by a variety of other names such as bike taxi, velotaxi, pedicab, bikecab, cyclo, be ...

, a hybrid of the

tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a Human-powered transport, human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) Three-wheeler, three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for pa ...

and the

rickshaw Rickshaw originally denoted a pulled rickshaw, which is a two- or three-wheeled cart generally pulled by one person carrying one passenger. The first known use of the term was in 1879. Over time, cycle rickshaws (also known as pedicabs or tr ...

, is a unique mode of transport in Macau, though it is mainly for sightseeing purposes but they were a type of mainly used transportation system before the 1970s because of their cheap price. They can easily be found next to Hotel Lisboa and the Macau ferry terminal waiting for passengers.

Railways

There is one railway line open in Macau called the

Macau Light Rail Transit The Macau Light Rapid Transit (MLRT, zh, 澳門輕軌系統; , MLM) is a mass transit system in Macau and the first railway system of the city. The first phase of the project's construction began in February 2012, and the first section of the Tai ...

system. Phase 1 of the Taipa line opened for operations in December 2019. Similar to the Singapore Light Rapid Transit system, the tracks will be a mix of

elevated An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train or el for short) is a railway with the Track (rail transport), tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concre ...

guideways and tunnels, ensuring a dedicated right-of-way separated from road traffic. When completed it will serve passengers on Macau Peninsula, Taipa island, the Cotai reclamation area, the

and the

Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge (HZMB) is a bridge–tunnel system consisting of a series of three cable-stayed bridges, an undersea tunnel, and four artificial islands. It is both the longest sea crossing and the longest Intercontinent ...

. Proposals have been put forward to link Macau to the Chinese railway network by extending the Guangzhou Railway (or, possibly, Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity Mass Rapid Transit) to Cotai through Hengqin Island. However, no decisions have yet been made so far. Zhuhai Railway Station of the

Guangzhou–Zhuhai Intercity Railway Guangzhou–Zhuhai intercity railway or Guangzhu intercity railway () is a dedicated, grade-separated regional railway linking Guangzhou South railway station in Panyu, Guangzhou, Jiangmen railway station in Xinhui, Jiangmen, and Zhuhai Jinw ...

terminates adjacent to the northern border entrance into Macau at

Portas do Cerco The Portas do Cerco is an area in Nossa Senhora de Fátima, Macau, China. Located on the northern tip of the Macau Peninsula, it is known by the Barrier Gate separating Macau from mainland China. The Portuguese built the gate in 1849 to replace ...

. Other systems include the Teleférico da Guia

gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate suppo ...

system on

Guia Hill The Guia Hill (; ) is a hill in located in São Lázaro, Macau, with an elevation of 91.6 meters. Situated in the central part of the Macau Peninsula, it features a park, recreational trails, a cable car, and other facilities. Guia Fortress is al ...

, and the Elevador Inclinado da Colina da Taipa Grande, an

inclined lift An inclined elevator or inclined lift is a form of cable railway that hauls rail cars up a steep gradient. Introduction An inclined elevator consists of one or two inclined tracks on a slope with a single car on each carrying payload. In ...

Others

The Macau Maritime Museum used to have two sailing vessels (which were based on the ancient "junk" form but were remodeled) serving for touring trips between the inner and outer harbours. Along the trip, the crew would introduce the general lifestyle and customs of the local boat dwellers. However, due to the

land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...

works in the harbour and the maintenance of the boats, all trips have been suspended.

External

Sea

Over 150 sea-crossing services are scheduled daily between Macau and Hong Kong, and the

Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal The Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal (; ), also known as the ''Macau Maritime Ferry Terminal'', ''Macau Ferry Terminal'' or ''Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Pier'' in Chinese (), is a ferry terminal located at Porto Exterior, Sé, Macau, China. History The ...

serves as the major terminal for Macau's passenger traffic by sea. The route is served by high speed

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

s (with passenger capacity of about 400) and

jetfoil The Boeing 929 Jetfoil is a passenger-carrying, waterjet-propelled hydrofoil by the Boeing Company. Boeing adapted many systems used in jet airplanes for hydrofoils. Robert Bateman led development. Boeing launched its first passenger-carrying ...

s (with passenger capacity of about 260) and the journey takes approximately one hour. There are also daily scheduled ferry services between Macau and

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

. At present the services are operated by

TurboJET The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

from

Sheung Wan Sheung Wan (Chinese: 上環) is an List of places in Hong Kong, area in Hong Kong, located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island, between Central, Hong Kong, Central and Sai Ying Pun. Administratively, it is part of the Central and Weste ...

Tsim Sha Tsui Tsim Sha Tsui ( zh, c=尖沙咀), often abbreviated as TST, is an list of areas of Hong Kong, area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed ...

and

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is an international airport on the island of Chek Lap Kok in western Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or Chek Lap Kok Airport, to distinguish it from its predec ...

Cotai Water Jet Cotai Water Jet (; ) is a company that operates high-speed ferry services between Macau and Hong Kong. It is one of the two companies operating high-speed ferry services between the two territories – the other one being TurboJET. The Taipa ...

also operates services between

and the

, Tsim Sha Tsui and Hong Kong International Airport. Apart from the sea routes there are also regular scheduled helicopter services between Hong Kong and Macau, which are operated by Sky Shuttle. The trip takes approximately 20 minutes. A sea-crossing service has been launched by

which travels between the

and Macau. This differs from the above Macau-Hong Kong route since travelers who arrive in Hong Kong by air do not have to go through Hong Kong immigration's passport control and can board a direct ferry to Macau through a special transfer terminal within the airport. On the return trip, travelers can directly reach the

by ferry (a dedicated check-in desk for the service is available at the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal) and arrive at the airport without going through Hong Kong immigration's passport control, though airline check-in has to be done for some airlines within the airport prior to boarding a plane. Later on, the Cotai Water Jet launched the same service linking Hong Kong Airport and Macau but mostly embarked at Taipa Ferry Terminal. A new ferry terminal in Taipa, which is adjacent to the

, was opened in 2017 and some of the passenger traffic by sea will be diverted to the new facility. It is expected to act as a major hub for passenger transfer between the

and the Macau International Airport. From the Inner Harbour Ferry Terminal (Terminal Marítimo de Passageiros do Porto Interior), ferry services were available between Macau and Wanzai,

Zhuhai Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...

until January, 2016 due to safety issues at the Wanzai Ferry Terminal. On 31 December 2019, the Macau government announced that the Wanzai Port will officially reopen on January 23 with an hourly immigration capacity of 3,840 crossings. To transport passengers between Macau and Zhuhai, the mainland ferry company Yuet Tung will arrange one ferry every 15 minutes, amounting to four ferries every hour. Each ferry can take a maximum of 280 passengers.

Air

Air service in Macau began in the 1930s with

Pan American Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

operating

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...

s from Macau to Hong Kong and lasted until 1941. In 1948

Cathay Pacific Airways Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, or simply Cathay Pacific, is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main airline hub, hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and its subsidiaries have schedule ...

commenced Hong Kong to Macau seaplane service under their subsidiary

Macau Air Transport Company Macau Air Transport Company (Macao Air Transport Company) was a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific that operated seaplane services between Macau and Hong Kong from 1948 to 1961. Formed in 1948, the airline operated two Consolidated PBY Catalina seaplane ...

(MATCO). MATCO operated from the Outer Harbour Terminal along Avenida da Amizade to

Kai Tak Airport Kai Tak Airport was an international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply K ...

. The scheduled passenger service continued until 1961 when MATCO ceased operations. The

, located at Taipa, serves as the terminal for Macau's international air traffic. It was inaugurated on 9 November 1995 and has since established a number of regular flights between Macau and major cities in Northeast and Southeast Asia, such as

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, and

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

. Passengers who would like to enter mainland China by land can use the "Two Customs, One Checkpoint" service (or the AIR-TO-LAND Flow Express Bus - Two Customs, One Checkpoint) provided by the Macau International Airport. Passengers can request the "Express Link" service at the check-in counter of their respective airlines. When arriving at the Macau International Airport, they can simply follow the "Express Link" signs and board the Air-to-Land transfer. Passengers do not have to go through Macau's immigration and customs checkpoint until they reach the border of mainland China. Owing to its relatively low landing fees and the business opportunities brought by the booming gaming industry in Macau, the airport has attracted several of Asia's

low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...

s such as

AirAsia Capital A Berhad (), operating as AirAsia (stylised as ''airasia'') is a Malaysian multinational low-cost airline headquartered near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Established in 1993 and commencing operations in 1996, the airline is the largest in M ...

Tigerair Tiger Airways Singapore Pte Ltd, operating as Tigerair, was a low-cost airline headquartered in Singapore. It operated services to regional destinations in Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, Taiwan, China and India from its main base at Singapore Ch ...

Cebu Pacific Cebu Air, Inc. (), operating as Cebu Pacific (stylized in lowercase), is a Philippine low-cost airline based in Pasay, Metro Manila. Founded in 1988, the airline was the first low-cost carrier in Asia and is also the largest airline in the Phi ...

, etc. to establish regular flights between Macau and several major cities in Southeast Asia. As a result, it has been gradually developing into a major hub for low-cost air travel within the region. Other traditional carriers, such as the local flag carrier

Air Macau Air Macau is the flag carrier of Macau. It operates services to 24 destinations in Mainland China, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, from the airline's home base at Macau International Airport. In 2014, Ai ...

, the Taiwanese carrier

EVA Air EVA Airways Corporation ( ; ) () is an international airline headquartered in Taoyuan City. It is one of the two largest airlines in Taiwan along with state-owned China Airlines. The privately owned airline operates passenger and dedicated c ...

, and even carriers which operate similar routes from Hong Kong, are facing potential challenges from these newcomers. Due to a lack of intercontinental flights from Macau, air passengers are also served by

and

Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport — formerly Shenzhen Huangtian Airport — is an international airport serving the city of Shenzhen in South Central China’s Guangdong province. It is on the east bank of the Pearl River in Bao'an Di ...

. Passengers can take ferries from the Outer Harbor and Taipa terminals to the

Skypier Skypier Terminal () is a cross-border facility that includes a ferry pier and a coach bay integrated within Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, New Territories, Hong Kong. It is operated by Hong Kong International Airport Ferry T ...

in Hong Kong, or

Fuyong Ferry Terminal Fuyong Ferry Terminal (), also known as the Shenzhen Airport Ferry Terminal, is a ferry terminal on the shore of the Pearl River, located in the Fuyong Subdistrict of the city of Shenzhen, next to Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport. Passeng ...

in Shenzhen, without clearing customs or immigration at the other side. There is also a helicopter service to Shenzhen.

Roads, bridges and tunnels

Macau has 321 kilometres of public roads, four bridges (viaducts) linking the Macau Peninsula and Taipa, and a tunnel through the Guia Hill linking the Horta e Costa area and the New Port Area (NAPE). The four bridges are (from east to west) Macau Bridge, the Friendship Bridge (''Ponte de Amizade''); the Macau-Taipa Bridge (''Ponte Governador Nobre de Carvalho''); and the Sai Van Bridge (''Ponte de Sai Van''). The

Lotus Bridge Lotus or LOTUS may refer to: Plants * List of plants known as lotus, a list of various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: **'' Nelumbonaceae'', a single-genus family of aquatic flowering plants, consisting of just two species; ...

links Cotai with

Hengqin New Area Hengqin (, ) is an island that lies mostly in Zhuhai, a prefecture-level city and special economic zone in Guangdong Province of the People's Republic of China. It has a population of about 3,000. Parts of Hengqin are leased to Macau by the Stat ...

of Zhuhai. Unlike

, where traffic drives on the right, traffic in Macau and Hong Kong drives on the left, therefore a special design has been used to build this bridge to facilitate the change in driving directions. Roads are generally narrow at the heart of the city and parked cars are always found on both sides of the road. Traffic congestion has been a major problem throughout the day owing to the lack of an efficient mass transit system and a relatively high car to population ratio. There are four land cross-border checkpoints, Portas do Cerco, Parque Industrial Transfronteiriço, located at Ilha Verde, Cotai (Lotus) Checkpoint, and the

Checkpoint for connection Mainland China. Except for Portas do Cerco, which operates from 06:00 to 01:00, the other checkpoints are in 24-hour operation. The recent opening of the

, opened in October 2018 has formed the first single road link between

and the Chinese mainland at

. This 50 km link consists of a series of bridges and tunnels crossing the

Lingdingyang Lingdingyang () or Lingding Channel is the middle channel of the Pearl River estuary which runs from Humen to Jiuzhouyang. Humen separates Lingdingyang and Shiziyang, the upper channel of the Pearl River Estuary, in the north and Jiuzhouyang ...

channel, that connects these three major cities on the

Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in official documents, ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Ports

* Macau Container Port, located at the Inner Harbour area on the west side of the

peninsula * Ká Hó Port, located on the

Island

Airports

There is only one airport located within Macau. Service began in 1995. Previously, seaplanes operated in Macau.

Heliports and helipads

There are two heliports in Macau.

References

External links

Macau Ferry Information

Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau of Macau

City Guide of Macau

Macau SAR Government Official WebsiteMacau International Airport Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In Macau