Beijing to upgrade 230 bus routes for new subway lines

Bus routes will be greatly altered and the service time will be further prolonged. A relevant official at the Beijing Municipal Committee of Transport stated March 11 that 5 subway lines will open to passengers and 230 bus routes will be altered in Beijing this year. Public transportation companies will deploy fewer buses on the routes which have fewer passengers but cannot be altered because they involve downtown areas. At the same time, the service time of the public transportation sector will be prolonged so it can match the service time of the subway sector.

Five subway lines in Yizhuang, Daxing, Fangshan, Changping and Shunyi will open to passengers at the end of this year and Beijing will analyze changes in the passenger loads of relevant bus routes along the subway lines and then alter these bus routes according to the changes. Top priority will be given to streamlining these bus routes so as to increase the efficiency of relevant highways and buses. At the same time, Beijing will deploy fewer buses on the routes which face a decline in passenger load but cannot be altered because they involve downtown areas, and deploy more buses on the buses routes intersecting subway stations in the suburbs.

Meanwhile, Beijing will investigate the changes in the number of bus passengers during night time, and then provide more convenience to bus passengers who intend to transfer to subway trains.

Beijing will buy 200 electric buses this year. In the future, Beijing will mainly depend on diesel-powered vehicles which meet the China IV Standard, and moderately deploy diesel-powered vehicles which meet the China V Standard, hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles and streetcars so as to increase the passenger transportation capacity.

According to relevant plans, Beijing will establish a subway and expressway-centered public transportation network by 2015 in which highways will play an important role. The proportion between bus passengers and subway passengers will be 2:3, and the 561-kilometer-long subway will carry 10 million passengers every day, satisfying many people's needs in the downtown areas. On the other hand, buses will carry 15 million passengers every day, satisfying people's needs in areas far away from subway lines. To sum up, subways and buses will form a perfect public transportation network.