The Beijing Communications Committee has completed the capital communication development program, which will be implemented this year.

The Beijing Communications Committee based the program on studies of the municipality's traffic situation in past years, which was appraised by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said an official with the committee.

The official said that communication planning in Beijing did not coordinate with the city layout and was not suitable for fast pace of development, which gave rise to the traffic congestion in Beijing.

According to the program, Beijing will build a new communication system with advanced management by 2010.

The new system would comprehensively enhance the capital's traffic capacity, alleviating the traffic congestion to a large extent, the official said.

Beijing will invest more in road transportation while boosting the railway system, according to the plan. At the same time, the controlling system for traffic lights will be improved.

Beijing will also adjust the city layout, accelerating the development of the eastern part.

The official said that the new system would enable cars to be driven at an average 25 km per hour in rush hour by 2008, and he promised that 85 percent of commuters within the fifth ring road would spend no more than 50 minutes on their way to work.

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2004)