The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge opened in October but the impact of the world’s longest sea crossing on Macau’s tourism and gaming sectors has been muted. A test ride across the US$20 billion, 55 kilometer (34 mile) span confirms that the bridge adds options but not necessarily value for most travelers. It may, however, help Macau emulate a business model that’s worked well for Las Vegas and Singapore and belatedly meet a major objective of casino liberalization.

The ferry ride between the Hong Kong and Macau, the world’s casino capital, takes roughly an hour, compared with 37 minutes end to end by bridge. However, ferries depart from the middle of Hong Kong and arrive at Macau terminals served by free shuttle buses to major casinos.

The bus is more complicated. There are just a few direct point-to-point bus routes; authorities have restricted bridge travel and cross border entry and, almost criminally, didn’t include a rail link. Round-the-clock bridge buses travel between so-called Ports, artificial islands that house the immigration facilities for their respective jurisdictions. The Hong Kong Port is roughly 45 kilometers by road from central Hong Kong. The Macau (and, accessed via a separate road, Zhuhai) Port is closer to the action but it’s served by just a handful of local bus routes plus a free shuttle bus to the Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal to connect with hotel shuttles and more bus lines.

The best way to HKZM Bridge depends where you’re coming from and how many transport modes you’re willing to use. MTR trains connect to bus lines to the Port. The ride to Tung Chung or Sunny Bay from Hong Kong island takes about 40 minutes and the bus ride to HKZM Port around 15 minutes more.

From the Forbes bureau in Hong Kong, I opted for a Cityflyer airport bus route that has been extended to the HKZM Port. That means only one mode of transport to the bridge bus, particularly desirable when toting luggage. On a weekday morning, I left the office at 8:23am, walked 12 minutes to the bus stop and boarded at 8:35am. The wifi-equipped bus cost HK$40 (US$5.11) and, after a scenic journey via Hong Kong’s Lantau Link of bridges and tunnels, reached Hong Kong Port at 9:26am.

Using my Hong Kong ID card, within 10 minutes, I had cleared immigration though an automated channel and, with help from bridge employees, purchased a HK$65 ticket for the bridge bus. I took my place in the line for individual traveler (as opposed to travel group) bus boarding. Ferry terminal waiting areas aren’t great, but they are indoors and have seats. For the bridge shuttle, you wait standing outside, albeit under a canopy. My wait was only seven minutes, and buses run as frequently as every five minutes.

The bridge shuttles are very basic local buses, with no wifi. Like long haul buses they have luggage storage compartments accessible from outside, though they weren’t opened for my trip, so my suitcase had to be carried aboard and stored in a small rack. Once the bus was filled, we took off, about 20 minutes after I’d arrived at the port.

On the ride, beyond Hong Kong airport there’s not much to see until the breakwaters of Macau. Most of the journey is a few meters above water level, so there’s little sense of majesty. At 10:22am , I was off the bus and walking to automated immigration clearance. That’s about 15 minutes later than I would have arrived at a ferry terminal with a 9am ferry departure, 15 minutes sooner than if I’d caught a 9.30am boat. In those cases, though, I’d be at a ferry terminal teeming with shuttle buses to hotels, not a place where I had to catch another bus for another 15 minute ride to those hotel shuttles.

The bus crossing cost HK$105 total, compared with HK$171 for a weekday ferry crossing plus about HK$6 for the train or bus to the ferry. Overall, the ferry remains more convenient and comfortable with its airplane style seats and (below-airplane-quality) tray table to work on my computer using ferry wifi, plus being able to lock in a departure time in advance.

There’s one major exception to the ferry advantage: Hong Kong International Airport. Before the bridge, reaching Macau from HKIA required catching a ferry than runs 10 times daily from 10:15am to 11pm – not even once an hour – takes roughly 70 minutes and costs HK$260. At other times, you either wait overnight, or take a bus or train to Hong Kong and then the ferry to Macau, a journey that consumes the better part of three hours if all goes well.

With the bridge, HKIA arrivals travelers can take a 10 minute bus ride to the bridge. day or night. and be in Macau inside of an hour if the connections click. That makes HKIA as convenient to Macau as most airports are to their host cities, and that significantly raises Macau’s potential as a convention destination. The bridge connects Macau to HKIA’s 72 million passengers from 180 destinations, compared with the 8 million passengers and 50 destinations that Macau’s airport serves.

MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions) has been part of the vision for Macau since the start of casino liberalization in 2001. Convention experience was a major reason Las Vegas Sands got included in the licensing mix. But Macau MICE never developed because of limited connectivity. The bridge addresses that issue.

“Cotai’s and Hengqin’s regional MICE business stand to be among the biggest beneficiaries as a result of the increased accessibility from HKIA,” GW Investment Consulting CEO Matthew Ossolinski, a Macau investment fund manager who also advises on property in Hengqin, the mainland island a stone’s throw from Cotai, says. “The benefits to Macau and Hengqin will be felt gradually, not overnight.” And they’ll arrive first via HKIA.