Passengers purchase shuttle bus tickets at Macao Port as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge opens to traffic on Oct 24. [Li Bingcun / China Daily]

First vehicles embark on journey envisioned for decades

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge enters the history of human engineering and connection as a point of pride upon its opening to traffic at 9am Wednesday.

One day after President Xi Jinping announced its opening at a ceremony held in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, the bridge's ports in three different administrative regions started serving travelers around-the-clock, opening 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

To ensure faster boundary crossings for passengers, the Macao and Zhuhai ports jointly use a one-off immigration clearance model, allowing travelers to queue up only once to finish both exit and entry procedures of the two cities in about 30 seconds.

People wait at Macao Port before the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge opens to traffic on Oct 24, 2018. [Li Bingcun / China Daily]

Apart from private cars, taxis and cargo vehicles, two types of public transportation -- shuttle bus and cross-boundary coach – can also run on the HZMB.

Shuttle buses only provide service between the ports of Hong Kong and Zhuhai, and between Hong Kong and Macao, without crossing any boundaries. The frequency is about 5-10 minutes during peak hours.

Advance online ticket booking for the shuttle bus has been available since 9 am on Tuesday.

With the bridge now in service, the traveling time between Zhuhai and Hong Kong International Airport will be shortened from four hours to 45 minutes, and the time between Zhuhai and Hong Kong's Container Terminals will be cut from 3.5 hours to 75 minutes.

At 9:15 am, the first shuttle bus from Hong Kong Port to Zhuhai Port prepares to take passengers on a historic ride across the just-opened Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. [Miriam Zhang / China Daily]

In Macao Port, two passengers purchase shuttle bus tickets at a reduced fare for those above 65. [Li Bingcun / China Daily]

The first group of passengers from Hong Kong Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge arrives at Zhuhai Port on Oct 24, by taking a shuttle bus. [Miriam Zhang / China Daily]

A resident from Zhuhai, Guangdong province, takes a day off on Oct 24 to go to Macao via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. [Kathy Zhang / China Daily]

A passenger takes a photo of the view on the first cross-border bus from Hong Kong Port to Zhuhai Port, on the first day of the mega bridge's operation.[Miriam Zhang/China Daily]

A small crowd begins to form on morning of Oct 24 at the Zhuhai Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, to go to Hong Kong. [He Shusi / China Daily]

Workers from the Macao company responsible for building the Macao Port take group photos in front of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) Frontier Post at Macao Port before crossing the world's longest sea-crossing bridge.The HZMB officially opened to traffic at 9 am, Oct 24. [Li Bingcun / China Daily]

Passengers in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, purchase shuttle bus tickets to go to Macao via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge on Oct 24, the first day the world's longest sea-cross bridge opened to traffic. [Kathy Zhang / China Daily]