Chris Stubbs writes that the new Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is a white elephant, because when he used it he only saw a few private vehicles and a lorry (“Lonely trip on the mega bridge: quiet day or white elephant effect?”, January 4).

With all due respect, I believe that Mr Stubbs is missing the forest for the trees. While I do agree with Mr Stubbs that there is not yet significant private traffic on the bridge, one has to bear in mind that a limited number of licences were distributed. You might recall a similar arrangement was made for the opening of Tai Kwun to ensure crowd control, but it is now open to everyone – and regular attendance is proof of its success. In the case of the bridge, such control is even more important, given the fact that some of the cars are allowed to circulate in another city, when Macau and Hong Kong are already highly congested. We evidently needed a “trial-based” approach and the governments were wise enough to adopt it.