is the tram line service back to normal?
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My life is better
None/neutral
minor inconvenience
major inconvenience
business inconvenience
business lost money
I was told to f**k off out of China
is the tram line service back to normal?
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Certainly has been a degree of 'inconvenience' to me. I live at the top of the escalator and work in Quarry Bay. Pre-occupy, I took a taxi to and from work, which took 15 mins each way. Post occupy, still taxi but in order to get one (seeing as taxi flow has diminished significantly) I am leaving the house at 6:20am and getting to my desk at 6:45am (note it took much longer than that going via Kennedy Rd or Stubbs Rd before Queensway was opened up recently). So the inconvenience is an hour of lost sleep in the morning. On the way home, commute is now 50 - 60 minutes rather than 15, which I calculate as around 14 hours a month extra spent sitting in the back of a Toyota Crown Comfort (what a misleading name). Taxi cost has gone up maybe 25% as well, although in real dollar terms this is not significant and I feel sorry for the taxi drivers as their low speed / waiting time income is very low by international standards.
Add to that the daylight savings changes making calls with the US and UK one hour later at night and calls with Aust one hour earlier in the morning and I've basically spent the last few weeks in a state of permanent sleep deprivation. Clearly this isn't the fault of Occupy, but is exacerbated by the current road blockages impacting commute times creating some scheduling challenges.
I'll put aside the issue of the impact on share prices, as that won't be significant as long as they bounce back before the tax bill is due...
Certainly can't complain though, as I recognize I am a guest in this SAR and the protestors have the best of intentions.
Hong Kong Magazine: Yes. We Can Have a Walkable Central
More here on a FB page.To planners and advocates, the massive road closure [Occupy Central] is a rare opportunity to finally test out a plan, hatched more than 10 years ago, to designate the stretch of Des Voeux Road Central between World Wide House and Western Market as a pedestrian- and tram-only zone. The intention of the plan is to improve the urban design and walkability of the Central Business District, and implement urban greening in an area where it is desperately needed.
Given that people used to taking the direct bus, or a taxi to and from work, don't like to be 'inconvenienced', I don't have any high hopes of Des Voeux Rd ever being pedestrianised, although it does make a great deal of sense to me.
Last edited by drumbrake; 22-11-2014 at 10:11 AM.
My commute couldn't be better. MTR added an express bus route that gets me from NT to Central in 45 minutes. And since the protesters blocked off Lung Wo Road yesterday, all the cars have avoided that route, so my bus just zipped through the street that's always traffic-jammed.
Hi David, I appreciate your civil response.
I think that on many points, we are seeing the evidence that leads us to our views very differently - very much a fundamental difference caused by our different first-hand experiences. However, I believe that what I have seen is very true and representative of the movement (as is what you have seen) given that the movement has fragmented as anticipated.
Given the heavy moderation in their subforum, I think that I will limit my response (I'm on the unpopular side, after all). I am all for proper civil disobedience but I do not agree with civil disobedience that necessitates the sacrifice of those that do not consent to their sacrifice - that is not good democracy.
Looking at the transport digest figures for October they are pretty much normal except surprisingly the West Harbour crossing was down around 18% but it carries the least traffic so not a huge impact. Cross Harbour, East Harbour, Lion Rock, Aberdeen tunnels all about the same usage perhaps up a little. Bus usage down a little but MTR up a comparable amount. GMB and RMBs have very normal patronage - how did they persuade a judge of significant losses?
This combined with the GDP and tourist figures would suggest no significant local impact on the north side of Hong Kong Island. No doubt there were a few people who had a longer commute time and some shops will have benefitted while others suffered a little with the changes in commuter patterns.
The scaremongering by the government now really appears silly nonsense. A little disappointing that the current administration and their masters could not be more honest with the public.