SHENZHEN Bay Checkpoint should offer 24-hour service to meet the increasing demand of border travelers between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

    The checkpoint, which was opened in July 2007, was designed with a capacity for 60,000 travelers a day. But now around 104,000 travelers go across the border a day and the number is expected to reach 250,000 a day by 2030, Zhu Yingheng, a political adviser to the 5th session of the 11th Guangdong Committee of the CPPCC, said in a proposal.

    “With the development of Shekou-Qianhai Free Trade Zone and the Houhai area, vehicle and passenger turnover is increasing year on year. The turnover capacity of the checkpoint can’t meet the increasing demand,” Zhu said. The facilities at Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint, the parking lots for example, won’t be able to meet the demand. The four parking lots in the area, which offer 2,000 parking places, are often full. The two nearest Metro stations, Haiyue and Dengliang stations, are 1,500 meters away, and unable to solve commuting problems.

    Zhu thought that an extension of the checkpoint’s service and bus service hours, especially during weekends and holidays, was one way to ease the pressures posed by border-crossing crowds.

    (Richard Han)