According to data from the Macau Transport Bureau, the total number of hotel and casino shuttle buses operating in Macau in 2023 was 281, which was 145 fewer than in 2019. The number of passengers also decreased by 43%.
The Bureau revealed this week that there were 56 general hotel and casino shuttle bus routes and three jointly operated routes – MGM and Wynn opened a Border Gate intermodal line in 2016 – for a total of 59 routes in 2023, three more than in 2019.
However, the total number of shuttle buses decreased due to a major reduction in diesel buses, from 270 diesel buses in 2019 to only 15 in 2023.
By contrast, natural gas buses, electric buses and extended range electric buses increased to 108 gas, 141 electric and 17 extended range electric buses respectively.
As for the number of passengers, the 2023 total reached 35,963,714 from 2,224,992 bus trips. This compared to approximately 63.2 million passenger trips in 2019.
The Macau Hotel and Casino Shuttle Bus has been described by the government as a complementary form of public transportation in Macau, which is important for the development of Macau’s tourism industry, especially for Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) travelers. After the reopening of Macau’s borders in 2023, the number of hotel and casino shuttle buses utilized has been on the rise.
In the first quarter of 2023, the number of shuttle bus trips was only 5,753,000, but rose to 11,276,267 by the fourth quarter.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of shuttle bus trips decreased significantly, with only 7,250,000 trips in 2020, increasing slightly to 7,385,000 trips in 2021 and then decreasing significantly to 4,501,000 trips in 2022.
