Why isn't Hong Kong like Bangkok?

Well, obviously there are a lot of reasons. This question was asked by a student concerning transportation in particular. Among the many large, compact megacities in Asia, Bangkok has become notorious for traffic congestion and air pollution. Drivers of Thai motorcycle taxis wear face masks when out on the street, and the mass transit system is dilapidated and under-used. On the other hand, while Hong Kong is not without air quality problems or rush hour jams, it is not only possible but easy to cross half of Hong Kong Island and head deep into Kowloon in less than half an hour (including transfers), for about $2 US, with no knowledge of Cantonese language or literacy in Chinese characters.

Density and land use mixing are both generators of traffic and prerequisites for transit. Bangkok and Hong Kong are both extraordinarily dense centers of housing, commerce, industry, culture, and government. So why is one choked with vehicles while the other, despite much more challenging geographic constraints (water, topography) provides extraordinary mobility? Clearly one part of the problem is simply inadequate transit development in Bangkok. The train system there was developed right before the 1998 Asian financial crisis, and the system’s implementation was crippled by the ensuing recession. Hong Kong’s system is partially privatized, and benefits from state-of-the-art infrastructure, scheduling, and fare collection. However, variations in transit quality alone don’t seem like enough to explain the globally sub-par transportation situation in Bangkok or the bold success of Hong Kong.

The answer lies in the realization that transportation planning is like a coin. On one side are the necessary conditions for mass mobility: land use density/mix and transit infrastructure. On the other side are the sufficient conditions to guarantee transit success: pedestrian safety, market-based anti-car policies, and transportation demand management. It must be easy and safe to walk, with a minimum of obstacles and threats from other transportation modes. Anti-car policies include scarce parking, expensive permitting, fuel taxes, and road pricing. And finally, transportation demand management enables and rewards frequent transit use through education, trip subsidy/discounts (at right, the Hong Kong 'octopus' card), and policies and programs targeting employers. When you turn over the coin in Bangkok, it is blank. In Hong Kong, you’d probably have to use one of those crazy micro-lasers that can write the whole Bible on a grain of rice to fit it all in.