Related stories

3-D Transportation Public Transportation System a Must Fengtai: Beijing's Hinge and Hub of Transportation Community Health-care System for Urbanites under Construction Take a Cultural Tour of "Backstreet" Beijing

Vital Transportation System Upgraded

To ensure smooth transportation during the Olympic Games, Beijing has published and implemented a Strategic Transportation Plan for the 2008 Olympics.

The plan emphasizes the use of public transportation and provides special traffic lanes for exclusive Olympic use to ease traffic congestion. Subway transportation, which contributed to the success of the Athens Olympics, will also play a key role during the Beijing Olympics.

Seven new subway lines are being built in the city, including Subway line No. 5 (from Songjiazhuang to Dongsanqi, 27.6 km), line No. 4 (from Majialou to Longbei Village, 28.14 km), line No. 10 (from Wanliu to Shiliuzhuang, 32.9 km), line No. 9 (from the World Park to Baishi Qiao, 18.3 km), the Olympic Line (from the Olympic Park to the Panda Roundabout, 5.91 km), the Yizhuang Line (from Songjiazhuang to Yizhuang, 26 km), and the Airport Light Railway Line (from Dongzhimen to the Beijing Capital International Airport, 27.3 km).

The government is in the process of replacing its old fleet of more than 18,000, both to create a “Green Beijing” but also in hopes that more comfortable buses will persuade some drivers to leave their cars at home.

Free public transport will be a big incentive during the Olympic Games. People with tickets for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games ride buses, subways and light railways for free during the Games. The city will also dispatch 4,000 vehicles for free use, according to Yu Xiaoxuan, deputy director of the BOCOG Project and Environment Department of the BOCOG.