The reform of Beijing's public transport system is to be materialized in three weeks, with a view to providing residents with cheaper, easier and smoother bus rides.

The cheapest monthly pass that has been used by commuters for dozens of years will finally be scrapped. But commuters relying on it will have even more convenient bus rides without having to pay more. To be exact, all who use the integrated circuit cards will enjoy a 40 per cent discount for travelling by bus.

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The cheapest fare for air-conditioned buses that is currently 2 yuan (26 US cents) will be reduced to 1 yuan (13 US cents), the same as for buses without air conditioners. And the fare will not increase until the journey goes beyond the 12-kilometre mark. It is estimated that the cost for travelling by public transport will be even lower for most residents.

The standard starting fare of 1 yuan for all buses may not necessarily reduce the income of air-conditioned buses since they may take many more passengers than they used to.

In addition, special lanes will be left for bus use only on the second and third ring roads next year to guarantee the fast running of public buses. And by 2010, these special bus lanes will be expanded to 450 kilometres.

It is inspiring that the Beijing municipal government has taken concrete steps to give priority to public transport.

With the rapid increase of private cars, a great sum of money has been invested in widening roads to meet the needs of more motor vehicles in Beijing and nationwide. The number of vehicles on the roads was 507,000 in 1990 and it has increased to more than 2.8 million now in Beijing alone.

The speed of widening existing roads and building new roads has always been behind that of the increase in cars, and congestion has not been eased in the slightest by the ever increasing lengthening and widening works.

Just as a vice-minister of construction commented at the end of last month, widening roads is not the right solution to tackle road congestion. Instead, prioritizing public transport should be an effective way out.

Cheap fares and an efficiently run public transport system, which the Beijing municipal government is trying to achieve, will encourage more residents to leave their cars at home.

If a bus ride was half an hour faster than a private car to travel from home to work, for example, those motorists would quite likely give up driving their own vehicles to take buses or the subway instead.

That reality will kill two birds with one stone: Traffic congestion will be considerably reduced and so will the pollution caused by the emission of exhaust from cars.

The Beijing municipal government will invest 4 billion yuan (US$510 million) next year to facilitate the development of its public transport system, which has been explicitly defined as a public service rather than a profit-making industry.

(China Daily 12/12/2006 page4)

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