The transportation system in Shanghai will be under a lot of pressure during the 2010 World Expo, but the municipal government is making every effort to improve its transportation service.

It says, by 2010, the city's public transport will be able to take passengers from downtown, to Pujiang Expo Garden in Minghang District in less than an hour.

The commuting time to nearby cities in the Yangtze Delta will be cut to around 3 hours to allow people to make day trips into the Expo.

The spokesman from the city's organizing committee says to achieve these targets the city will need to build a more better transportation system for the World Expo.

"To meet the need of such a big event, the transportation system should be both modern and multiplex. And we will put safety and economy as a top priority."

To give more details of the plan, the official says that the public transportation is the focus of the development.

"The metro lines in the city will carry 50 percent of the total passenger movement. The public buses will take 30 percent. We are not encouraging private-owned cars, more sedans will increase the pollution and cause more traffic jams on the roads."

The location of the 2010 World Expo is quite special with the two parts of the Expo garden sitting on opposite banks of the HuangPu River.

So the big question is how to move people between the two parts of the site. Here is the official again.

"We will provide a special ferry line on the HuangPu River. It sure will be another scenic spot in the city as people can enjoy the scenery of the Expo garden on both sides of the river."

Other plans also under consideration for the World Expo are an expansion of the existing magnetic suspension line to reach the Expo garden.

Hopefully, with a bit of effort from the government, the city's transportation system will well prepared for the first ever World Expo to be held in Shanghai.

(CRIENGLISH.com December 2, 2004)