• About
    • What Should I Read to Understand Zoning?
  • Market Urbanism Podcast
  • Adam Hengels
  • Stephen Smith
  • Emily Hamilton
  • Jeff Fong
  • Nolan Gray
  • Contact

Market Urbanism

Liberalizing cities | From the bottom up

“Market Urbanism” refers to the synthesis of classical liberal economics and ethics (market), with an appreciation of the urban way of life and its benefits to society (urbanism). We advocate for the emergence of bottom up solutions to urban issues, as opposed to ones imposed from the top down.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Linkedin
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Podcast
  • Economics
  • housing
  • planning
  • Transportation
  • zoning
  • Urban[ism] Legends
  • How to Fight Gentrification
  • Culture of Congestion by Sandy Ikeda
  • What Should I Read to Understand Zoning?

Why No One Drives to Work in Hong Kong

October 21, 2014 By Jeff Fong

Need to get 4 million people to the office every day? Hong Kong has you covered.

The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) is a rail system in the city of Hong Kong, currently managed by the Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited (MTRL). The system opened in 1979 and now operates over 135 miles of track as well as more than 152 stations in Hong Kong. The average trip costs somewhere between .50 cents and $3 USD, and the system makes back 186% of its operational costs on fares alone.

Hong Kong Metro

Much of the system’s success can be attributed to urban density. Denser development means people live, work, and play in smaller geographic areas, meaning that more people are travelling between a fewer number of points. This is a huge plus for a fixed-route system like a railway. The MTR, however, hasn’t been a passive beneficiary of its environment.

The MTR owns real estate around each station in the system and integrates rail and property planning so that the development of one supports the development of the other.

Construction around each MTR station is incredibly dense, so it can put as many potential riders as close to a station as possible. Over 41% of the population in Hong Kong (2.78 million people) lives within a half-mile of a station. Additionally, the company’s real estate strategy emphasizes walkability; some residents of MTR owned properties can walk from their homes to a station entrance without ever even going outdoors. Clustering potential riders around each station–and making sure passengers have an easy time getting there–helps support high levels of ridership.

While fares cover the costs of operations, it’s really property development that pays for maintenance and expansion. The rail line, in turn, increases the property values of parcels adjacent to each station. This augments the land rents which are siphoned off to cover capital costs.

Ultimately, building effective mass transit is all about embedding the system within a friendly urban environment. High-density, mixed-use development is a must, but so is the ability to leverage land values as a means to finance capital investment and outlays.

Part 1 of 2 covering the policies and institutions behind mass transit in Hong Kong

Tweet

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn

Filed Under: infrastructure, Logistics & Transportation, Transportation Tagged With: Hong Kong, mass transit, MTR, transit-oriented development

About Jeff Fong

Jeff writes about technology, markets, and policy. He's spent most of his professional career at on-demand logistics platforms like Lyft and Postmates. He also serves on the board of Yimby Action, a policy advocacy organization dedicated to housing and land use reform.

Comments

  1. Sandro Wolfe says

    October 22, 2014 at 7:31 am

    a very interesting article ! There is certainly a new problem evolving in metropolis transportation, parking and space for everyone… but also interesting to see that new inventions are being created to face and avoid these issues. Have you heard about this robot called ‘Ray’ that might handle all of our parking in the future : http://smart-magazine.com/space/go-fetch-the-car-ray/

  2. makin deod says

    February 18, 2015 at 12:55 pm

    Great Job , This article was truely a work of hardwork and rigorous potential, i must appreciate it. thanks for sharing such posts.Battlefield hardline PC Download

Trackbacks

  1. BART, Josefowitz, and Mass Transit in the Bay says:
    November 10, 2014 at 12:17 pm

    […] level only as opposed to multi-level parking structures). This sounded a lot like Hong Kong’s integrated rail-property development approach which has proven to be an unqualified success, so my interest was definitely […]

  2. Why Hong Kong's Metro Is Such A Success | CleanTechnica says:
    November 17, 2014 at 6:35 am

    […] Urbanism, in “Why No One Drives to Work in Hong Kong,” notes: “The MTR owns real estate around each station in the system and integrates […]

  3. Porque Nadie Conduce al Trabajo en Hong Kong? | SalvoLomas says:
    February 10, 2015 at 11:02 am

    […] vía Why No One Drives to Work in Hong Kong. […]

Market Urbanism Podcast

Connect With Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Linkedin
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

  • traffic and development
  • Rubbing Shoulders: Maybe
  • Is there really a building boom? Not as much as you might think
  • Pedestrianized streets usually fail – and that’s OK
  • Solano County Dreamin’: Is there a market urbanist way to build a new city?
  • Are Republicans or Democrats more pro-housing? Yes.
  • Gentrification: An LVT Would Do That
  • Will congestion pricing hurt cities?
  • New Report on Massachusetts’s Building Code Confirms: It’s Harder to Build Energy-Efficient Housing When You Don’t Let People Build Anything
  • Rhode Island’s housing process package
  • Why lawyer salaries matter
  • On coexistence
My Tweets

Market Sites Urbanists should check out

  • Cafe Hayek
  • Culture of Congestion
  • Environmental and Urban Economics
  • Foundation for Economic Education
  • Let A Thousand Nations Bloom
  • Marginal Revolution
  • Mike Munger | Kids Prefer Cheese
  • Neighborhood Effects
  • New Urbs
  • NYU Stern Urbanization Project
  • Parafin
  • Peter Gordon's Blog
  • Propmodo
  • The Beacon
  • ThinkMarkets

Urbanism Sites capitalists should check out

  • Austin Contrarian
  • City Comforts
  • City Notes | Daniel Kay Hertz
  • Discovering Urbanism
  • Emergent Urbanism
  • Granola Shotgun
  • Old Urbanist
  • Pedestrian Observations
  • Planetizen Radar
  • Reinventing Parking
  • streetsblog
  • Strong Towns
  • Systemic Failure
  • The Micro Maker
  • The Urbanophile

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2023 Market Urbanism

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.