Beijing commuters using public transport now outnumber those
using private cars, according to the Beijing Municipal Committee of
Communications.
The latest figures from the committee on Wednesday show 34.5
percent of the city's commuters now choose public transport,
beating for the first time the number of people opting for private
vehicles, which made up 32 percent of the total.
The increase comes in the wake of the city government's decision
to spend 1 billion yuan (about US$1.33 million) a year slashing
subway and bus fares. Subway fares have been cut by 30 percent.
Since Oct. 7, when the price cut took effect, the daily average
of the city's subway passenger volume has reached 2.48 million, up
910,000 from the daily average of the previous nine months this
year, according to the figures.
About half of the increased traffic was due to the No. 5 subway
line, which was opened to commuters also on Oct. 7.
The other half came from the four existing lines. Each of them
posted 33 percent to 50 percent increases in their passenger
volumes, compared with the figures in the first nine months of the
year.
In 2005, a total of 28.1 percent of commuters made their
journeys to work by public transport. This had risen to 30.2
percent in April this year.
Currently, Beijing has five subway lines in operation, with a
total length of 142 kilometers. The city will have nine lines
totaling 200 km by 2008, and 19 lines totaling 561.5 km by
2020.
Proposal for construction of 41-km No. 6 subway line, the
longest in Beijing, has passed government appraisal and
construction is scheduled to start by the end of this year.
The line will run from east to west across the northern part of
the city, parallel with the existing No.1 line, to facilitate
suburbs-downtown commuting.
Beijing, a city with a population of 17 million and more than 3
million registered vehicles, has been trying to boost public
transportation to ease traffic pressure and improve air quality
ahead of the 2008 Olympics.
The capital has staged a slew of measures, including improving
public transport structure, slashing bus fares by 60 percent for
residents since the beginning of this year and imposing temporary
car bans.
Beijing's subway operator has also announced on Wednesday that
two new six-carriage trains will be put in service next week on the
No.1 and No.2 subway lines, two oldest lines in the city.
The trains are better equipped and can raise passenger loads by
10 percent to a maximum number of 1,820 passengers per train.
A total of 264 such new trains will put into operation on the
two lines before the 2008 Olympics.
The city's public transport system now carries 15 million
commuters every day, and the number is expected to rise to 28
million by 2012. The city aims to raise the proportion of people
commuting on public transit to 50 percent by then.
(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2007)