A moment in time: Smarter streets

Passengers wait to board a minivan, a widely used vehicle in Beijing in the 1990s(above). The minivan taxi was popular because of its low price but was discontinued toward the end of the decade owing to emission issues and poor service.

The May 2013 photo (below) shows passengers lining up at a taxi stand outside the Beijing Railway Station. The country's taxi service has become efficient over time, and new types of vehicles are regularly introduced, including those that use alternative fuels.

In today's China, where mobile Internet is a big part of life, taxi-hailing applications have taken commuter convenience to a new level.