In 2008, an average 30 million people would be traveling in Beijing each day, including 18 million in the city proper, said officials attending the ongoing third Asia-Pacific congress of the International Union of Public Transport (UITP).

Beijing's public transport system would carry 8.5 to 9 million of these passengers, said Zheng Shusen, general manager of the Beijing Public Transport Corporation.

Public transport would by then link 14 satellite towns on the city's outskirts to the Olympic stadiums, central business districts, business development zones, tourist attractions and the Zhongguancun Science Park in northwest Beijing, known as China's Silicon Valley.

Zheng said the city was also set to speed up its public transport by 2008, when Beijing would have built 300 kilometers of subway and light railway and some 280 kilometers would be reserved for buses and trolleys on trunk roads and fast lanes.

Bus commuters would also feel more comfortable, with 30 percent of the 18,000 buses and trolleys having air-conditioning, he added.

These improvements would not be done at the cost of the city's environment, as all the buses would use clean energy, Zheng stressed.

Presently 51 percent of the buses in Beijing are fueled by clean energy, and 180 buses are equipped with global positioning system (GPS).

GPS, wireless communication systems and electronic displays of bus schedules would cover most bus routes in the coming few years to provide clear and precise guidance to passengers, said Zheng.

The three-day UITP congress, which opened here Tuesday, attracted over 400 officials, scholars and businessmen from over 30 countries.

UITP President Wolfgong Meyer lauded the rapid development of Shanghai's public transport system, which now carries 11 million passengers daily.

Founded in 1885, UITP is a worldwide association of urban and regional transport operators and authorities, with over 2,000 members in some 80 countries and regions.

Public transport authorities in eight Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are members of UITP.

(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2002)