Transport authority to cure Beijing’s ills
Print Edition
IN the Beijing of 2020, downtown residents won’t need to walk more than 10 minutes to reach a subway station and pedestrians will breathe cleaner air thanks to green vehicles.
That’s the vision presented in a blueprint released by Beijing transport authorities yesterday, which maps out the capital’s transport development for the next five years.
By 2020, the megacity of over 21 million people will almost double its 554-kilometer urban rail network.
Buses will run faster thanks to a bus lane network, and the proportion of new energy buses will exceed 65 percent.
The city will also encourage cycling as a greener way to commute, with 3,200 kilometers of bike lanes and at least 100,000 bicycles for rent.
The plan calls for some roads linking Beijing to neighboring Tianjin and Hebei Province to be integrated into the public transport system, allowing commuters to travel between the three regions with a single public transport card.
During the next five years, the city also expects cleaner air as infrastructure for new energy cars is upgraded and incentives for green automobiles expand.
An Zhiqiang, an official with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport, said the plan was created to address the capital’s “urban ills.”
In recent years, Beijing has taken a number measures to make itself a more livable city with a greener environment and more convenient transport.
They include reducing coal consumption, limiting automobile use, and controlling dust from construction sites.
There are also plans to move 15 percent of the population out of the city center and keep the total population below 23 million.
During the first five months of this year, the density of PM2.5 particles, a major contributor to pollution, was reduced 19.3 percent year on year.
The city had 96 days of sound air quality during the first five months, 21 days more than in the same period last year.
Lu Yan, director of the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission, said that while lowering population density in the city center, the government should also enhance the center’s function in political activities, cultural exchange, international communication and scientific innovation.
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