Subway

The 30-year-old Beijing subway offers convenience ? despite room for improvement

At present the capital has two metro routes. The Loop Line, consisting of 16 stations, parallels where the Ming ? era city wall once stood and the Second Ring Road runs today.

The other track is Line One, composed of 21 stops stretching from Pingguoyuan at the foot of the Western Hills, through Tian?anmen Square to Sihuidong beyond the eastern Fourth Ring Road along the Beijing ? Tongxian Expressway. There are two transfer stations intersecting the lines: Fuxingmen on the west and Jianguomen to the east.

The subway offers a viable transportation alternative for getting around central Beijing that is cost-effective and environmentally ? friendly.

The subway can be used to get closer to outlying areas such as going from Chaoyang to Haidian districts, making subsequent taxi rides faster and less expensive.

Beijing?s underground is cheap, costing 3 yuan (US$ 0.36) for a single trip ticket. Pricing is based on admission rather than distance traveled. Blue tickets are issued on Line One, while Loop Line tickets are orange.

Compared to subways in many other cities worldwide, Beijing?s lines are free of graffiti and garbage. The subway is well - lit and well ? policed.

Work on the country?s first subway began in July 1965. It has been in operation for more than 30 years, with limited service inaugurated on National Day October 1, 1969.

The 40.85-kilometer long NO.3 subway will be ready by the end of 2002. A branch line to connect the Capital International Airport with the city will be built in 2005. The 27.7-km-long No.5 subway and its connecting route will be completed by 2007, linking Olympic Green to the city. The 19-km Bawangfen-Tongzhou light railway is scheduled to be completed by 2003.

By 2008, the total length of subway will reach 140 km with passenger handling capacity hitting 1.74 billion.

Buses

There are more than 20,000 buses in Beijing. Half of them use natural petroleum gas. There are 648 bus routes in Beijing that transport 10 million people each day.

Beijing plans to open 50 new bus routes every year. In 2003, Beijing is expected to have 650 bus routes with annual passengers of 4.5 billion.

Besides, there are 222 long-distance bus routes linking downtown area with suburban districts and surrounding regions.

Taxis

At present, there are 67,000 taxis in Beijing. By the end of 2008, all the taxis will be equipped with a wireless telecommunication system and Global Positioning System (GPS).

Roads and Railways

Beijing has a road network totaling 12,852 km in length, including 216 km of expressway. By 2008, Beijing's total road length will be more than 700 kilometers after the construction of the Beijing-Kaifeng, Beijing-Miyun expressways. All the towns with populations of more than 50,000 will be linked by expressway networks.

Beijing now has railway lines linking the city with all major cities nationwide and 4 railway stations for passenger of cargo transport.

(bjta.gov.cn & Beijing Weekend)