Background Case: Profitable MTR System in Hong Kong
(In this research case, I want to know what the key factors of the profitable MTR system are. In another word, what conditions other cities in developing countries need in order to successfully replicate the MTR rail-property development model.)
In Hong Kong, public transit serves more than 90% of daily trips, and among them 40% are from the metro system, the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) (Wu, 2009). First built in late 1970s, MTR has a daily ridership of 5.6 million passengers and total revenue of HK$35.7 billion in 2012 (MTR, 2012). Until now, the system has 11 lines, 84 stations and a total route length of 218.2 km with an average fare of HK$7.1 per trip (MTR, 2012). It runs 7 days a week, from early 5 a.m. in the morning to 1a.m. the next day. The MTR has become an indispensable part of residences’ lives in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is a famous international economic center with the 4th highest population density in the world (CIA, 2012). It consists of three main islands: Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. The rapid transit railway system connects business and residential centers in the three islands through harbor rails, which can be both run by train and vehicles. The system passes the area with high population density, like the Mong Kok Station in New Territories and the Central Station at Hong Kong Island (see Figure 1). On the land of New Territories and Kowloon, East Rail Line, West Rail Line and Ma on Shan Line are surface-street trams which provide both intra-island and inter-island services to Shenzhen in mainland China. The system also connects the main islands to the airport and Disneyland Resort on Lantau Island in the southwest through Airport Exp...
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6. Next Step
The rail-property development for a financially sustainable transit system seems feasible in many developing countries since many cities are experiencing rapid population and economy growth and are in great need of high-capacity railway transit system, just like Hong Kong in the 1970s. Since the model in Hong Kong works well, I want to look into other reports and researches about its unique key factors of success. I also want to look at other cases where the model partly or fully failed following this model. I want to come up with some evaluation standards that other cities or transit operators can refer to in order to replicate the MTR model in Hong Kong.
(Can you give me some advice on this new background case? I know it changes a lot from the original one. And I want to know some other research methods about this case. Thanks.)
A good chunk of people in the Big Apple (New York City) feels that the MTA makes their ride efficient, cheap, easy, and convenient way of getting around town. On a scale of 1-10, N...
Transport is a political factor as it is controlled and affected by legislation. This will impact on the staff and opponents (travelling to the stadium) as the accessibility of transport will impact on travelling times – both positively (may avoid traffic on a train e.g.) and negatively (trains, buses etc. may be cancelled or delayed). The price of transportation will also affect the mode of transport that these groups of people may use. Similarly, price and accessibility of transport will affect the consumers also. The view that consumers hold on transport, therefore, is likely to impact on the business i.e. effort to travel, money to travel etc. as this will influence how often they will visit, what they will spend during their visit etc. According to (Mintel 2011,) the amount of people using train as a mode of transport is on the rise, mea...
Jesse Victor and Diane E. Brown. Arizona PIRG Education Fund. “The Businesses of Light Rail: A Compilation of Local Business Interviews”. < http://www.arizonapirg.org/sites/pirg/files/reports/The-Businesses-of-Light-Rail.pdf>. April
For now the more use are the airlines, buses, or trains. Many people use the airlines to travel to one place to another, and by building the railway it will decrease the number of people who ride the planes and it will decrease the amount of people traveling in car, too. The railway is not only going to decrease the amount of people traveling in planes, cars, or bus but it will also decrease the amount of time people take to travel in this kind of transportations. A reporter says, “Texas central is planning to build a bullet train route that cut between Dallas and Houston, Trimming about 2 hours off the average driving time, and saving over an hour compared to air travel” (“Proposed”). The railways will cut time for passengers to get to their destination but it will have a bad result later on. Some people agree on building this train because it will be faster to get to one place to another, but they are wrong because it will take costumers away from other transportations, and it will have an impact in the increase of how much each ticket cost. It will destroy land from does that live there. Researchers have found that railways benefit economies by bringing competition to transportation because people will be able to choose from all the varieties. The Researchers are wrong because airline will not have the same amount of people as they do before the high-speed train is build. Not only the airlines but bus stations because people will not notice other transportation. The airlines, the cars, and trains companies will change things from their transportations because they will want to be better than the railways. For example, technology or even the ticket prices. All they would want is to be better than the railway, causing more and more competitions, which means people will expand more on buying the transportation
Have you been late for the metro, on certain occasions, or has the metro had maintenance, casually most of the time, well I am here to discuss this problem and give my own personal opinions and experiences.
UIC 2008, High Speed Rail: Fast Track to Sustainable Mobility, UIC, Paris, viewed 3 May 2011, < http://www.uic.org/IMG/pdf/20101124_uic_brochure_high_speed.pdf>.
Infrastructure is important in the economic stability of any country and the comfort of its people. Mongolia is grappling with its economy because of poor development of logistical infrastructure. The reasons for this poor growth trace back to the history of the country, and its overreliance on the mining sector. The post-communist country depends too much on mining, which is clouded by corruption, thereby forestalling development of the transport system. The government and organizations in the country are also reliant on international support. Moreover, the recent privatization of institutions is not enough to address the development challenges in the country.
Istanbul, as told, is an extremely crowded city with over 14 million citizens living in just 5,343 square kilometers (“Istanbul”). Around 11.5 million passengers travel all around Istanbul every day (“İstanbul`da Toplu Taşıma”). The fact that the city is divided into two different sides by the Marmara Sea makes the traffic even worse. The 1.4 km long undersea tunnel is now operating in order to reduce the amount of traffic at the two Bosphorus bridges along with the underground tunnel. The total length of the rail line will be 76.3 km with 40 stations, but n...
Finally, the municipal government relies on development costs to generate revenue. The basis for assessing development costs is driving the low density and it plays role in car-centered development. However, this requires investment and more expensive municipal infrastructure. Development costs are an important cost that can affect development locations, time schedules, and other decisions. Development costs may affect land resource consumption and community design, and are increasingly being used as revenue sources and growth management tools. Therefore, more municipalities should consider better adjustment of their development cost design and growth management policies. Developers pay development fees to the government for the infrastructure
Public transportation is an essential part of a city. A good public transit can encourage a city’s economic activities and can provide its citizen a convenient life. Does our Phoenix public transit work well? Does it provide sufficient service to the citizen? From my experience, the answer is no. This November I tried to attend the popular State Fair in Phoenix. However, I found that there were not any buses or metros could take me to the fair directly. It means I need 2 hours or more spend on the public transits. As the sixth most populous city nationwide (“Phoenix Quick Fact” 1), compared with Los Angeles and other big cities in America, Phoenix’s public transportation is indeed subpar. Due to Los Angeles has 154 bus lines and 30 metros (“Schedule”), New York has 316 bus lines and 28 subways(“Maps & Timetables”), while Phoenix only has 98 bus lines, and the number of metro line is only one! (“Route Schedules & Maps”) The problem is
Hong Kong has developed a way of improving mobility and accessibility while reducing car dependence and deferring the need for further road and parking expansions. For the TRL to become more popular to the public, its performance in terms of waiting time, travel time, transfer time,etc. must satisfy the public needs. It must also be financially sustainable, with affordable fares and still maintain high quality. In Hong Kong, the transit system provides complete coverage to all of Hong Kong. The walking time, in Hong Kong, between the passenger’s starting point and the location of boarding are an estimated four minutes.
BART is a fast modern rail transit system, with 34 stations and 75 miles of track, serving the counti...
The financial arrangements, commitment of the decision-makers to the success of the project, labour issues, the city planning process, land use policy, securing the support of the community for the project, are some of the institutional issues. Other institutional challenges include interference from those with an interest in the real estate, availability of space, local opposition etc. All of the institutional issues associated with the development and operation of the BRT system can be broadly grouped into nine different categories: intergovernmental and inter-organizational; intra-transit agency; political; public relations and marketing; funding and finance; labor; safety and liability; planning and land use; and the physical environment.
Rail transportation is a transportation in which for movement of people and goods which from one location to another destination. Rail had been takes the important role in physical and economic development of town and cities in a country and it was developed over the world. Rail transport can be made a property value in a country increase and it must be needs improvement in transportation network expanding (Goldberg, 1970). Thus, the railway services need to be done with continuous improvement and it is important to the rail passengers of the range and quality of facilities and service on stations and trains (Gleave, S. D., 2000). The future development to a public transportation is a key to affect
As Sassen (40) defined, networks and circus are elementary of global cities, having a well–connected airport is thus critical for linkage of a city with the world as it allows intensive flows of information, people and products. Hong Kong has developed itself into an international aviation hub the holds leading position in both passenger and cargo terms. According to the Airports Council International (), HKIA ranked as number 10 and 1 as the world’s busiest airport by passenger and cargo traffic respectively. We should, of course, be proud of having such an outstanding airport as foundation of our economic success. However, other Asian cities have caught up in challenging Hong Kong’s leadership for their increasing passengers and cargo flows and expansion plan to increase capacity. To what extent the third runway, as suggested by the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK), can help Hong Kong withstand such a fierce competition?