The freedom of public transit
I spent the last 3 weeks in Zhuhai, the city in mainland China across the river delta from Hong Kong and Shenzhen, just north of (also technically west, east and south of) Macau. With the advent of the Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles scheme, car owners, Zhuhai has become a popular destination. It’s a 90 minute drive from most urban areas of Hong Kong and only about 55 minutes from Hong Kong’s airport.
The scheme allows individual owners of Hong Kong registered private vehicles to drive into the mainland via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Port (located in Zhuhai) without the expense cost of procuring a "regular quota" for a second vehicle license plate with entry permission at one of the much more convenient Shenzhen land crossings.
Zhuhai is a unique city in the region with its lack of urban rail transit. While there is an intercity spur of the national high speed rail network, it’s not very useful to those getting around the city. Although there are public buses, and bike paths everywhere, ride hailing is inexpensive and many people have cars making it really a car-first city.
Driving on a daily basis was a bit of a novelty to me. While I do drive regularly in Hong Kong, it isn’t something I really need to do. In Zhuhai, it felt like something I had to do. Besides roadtrips, where driving was the main point short trips abroad visiting family, driving daily out of necessity isn’t something I’d really done I since high school living in the USA.
Towards the end of my stay, after weeks of rain and squinting in downpours, the novelty started wearing off. Having to find parking spots in massive multi-floor garages, then find my car again when I’m ready to leave, figure out the garages’s custom vibe coded mini app for payment, etc, really started to wear on me. But since ride hailing is cheap and convenient, I could leave the car in the parking lot and have someone else drive me.
And now, I’m back in Hong Kong. After driving back across the bridge, I decided to give the car and its faithful driver (me!) a break and take public transit. It’s hard to explain the feeling of freedom I feel on Hong Kong public transit. Buses are clean and comfortable and reliable. And Hong Kong’s rail transit, the MTR is a truly pleasant place to be.
Public transit freedom is a unique type of freedom. It's a freedom that, ironically, comes from the constraints and regularity of scheduled service. The freedom doesn't come from just not having to drive…I don’t have to drive when I’m in an uber or taxi or self driving car either. Instead, it’s freedom from the mental load of being responsible for and committed to the vehicle and its destination. And the freedom from having to decide exactly where I’m going before I start going there. Sure, I might be start out going to a certain MTR station, but I don’t have to get off there. I could hop off the train a station before or a station after. Either way, the train doesn't care...the train is going to go where it’s going to go, with or without me. And that makes me truly free.