Transport
Beijing 2008 Olympics Transportation
The transportation in Beijing China
has been transformed in the last few years. Much of
this has been due to the massive economic expansion
in this country but also special measures have been
put in place for the Beijing Olympic Game
If you plan to use the transport system
in Beijing - buses, light rail and subway or metro
- you can get a Public Transportation Card. You can
get these at certain ticket outlets. You prepay an
amount you plan to spend on fares plus a deposit of
20 yuan. Then just use it for your trips, it will
save you having to search for change etc. If you havent
used up the prepaid amount when you are leaving Beijing,
you can get a refund of your deposit and any unused
amount.
The Beijing Subway - Beijing
Metro
The subway in Beijing is efficient
and speedy and with the population of more than 18m
it is an essential part of moving people around. For
many years there have been two subway lines - the
first was opened in 1969. One provided a central circle
route and the other ran roughly east to west. This
was supplemented by a Light Rail system serving the
northern reaches of the city.
Now additional lines have been built
and one of these will specially serve the main Olympic
Green area for access to most of the more popular
Olympic Games venues and Olympic arennas.
A good representation of the subway
map Beijing can be found here.
This map also shows the two Light Rail Beijing services.
When you arrive in Beijing pick up the most uptodate
Beijing metro Beijing subway map.
The cost of travelling on the subway
is very reasonable - only 3 to 5 yuan. Although it
may appear daunting at first to English speakers in
fact it is very simple. Inside the stations, the information
is given in English as well as Chinese. The approaching
stations are announced in the train again in both
English and Chinese (the difficulty is hearing the
announcement with the train noises and passenger chat).
A good tip is to get your hotel to
write down, firstly the subway station nearest to
your hotel, and secondly the destination station you
wish to go to - in chinese characters, which you can
then show to any Beijing resident - you'll find the
Chinese very, very helpful. It is also helpful to
know the "end Station" of the line you wish
to travel on as this will ensure you are going in
the correct direction as you select your boarding
platform.
Bus transport Beijing 2008
Thee bus service in Beijing has also
been overhauled over the last five years. There is
now a fleet of modern, airconditioned vehicles, many
of them using environmentally friendly fuel systems.
The Beijing bus service is more difficult than the
subway for foreigners as there is a maze of different
routes. Once you know the right bus number and its
stopping places, all is simple. If you're planning
on using the bus in Beijing, check out about those
that traverse the route stopping at every stop, and
those that go the route but only stop at certain stops.
Taxis
There are, would you believe, over
60,000 taxis in Beijing! At present in preparation
for the Olympic Games 2008 they are being modernised
and metered. Plus, most will form part of the "intelligent
transport" information being incorporated into
the transport system in time for the Games. Again,
there is a language barrier so do have your destination
clearly thought out. If there is any question of the
meter not being used - ie for long hires, long distances,
agree the fare in advance, as you would in any city.
Road Transport in Beijing.
In addition to the improvements in
public transporation billions of dollars are being
spent on improving the road network in and around
Beijing and particularly in the northern sector where
most of the OLympic Games activity will take place.
Some 200km of the cities inner roads are being upgraded
and a fifth and sixth ring road is almost completed
to add to the other three ring roads around the city.
iIt is planned to have and Olympic
Lane on all the main routes to the venues and arenas
for the Olympic Games .
Because of the increased ownership
of cars in Beijing, there is concern about the environment
and about pollution. The Government is taking many
measure to ensure that this problem is solved by the
time of the Olympic Games 2008. To reduce the smog
in Beijing many approaches are being implemented,
the banning of certain types of fuels, the moving
of some power stations and major industry to sites
outside the city.
In August 2007, a trial took place
which involved banning 50% of private cars from entering
Beijing each day. From a Thurday to Monday inclusive,
more than 1.3 million cars stayed off the roads -
based on the odd and even numbers of the number plates.
This follows the moves made by other cities prior
to their Olympic Games. The trial in August 2007 has
been very successful and did reduce the "smog
index". It did place a stress on the public transport
system in Beijing as it is estimated that about 2
million more public transport journeys were made than
is usual!
Authorities consider the experiment
a success and reckon that it has provided valuable
information so that more prolonged control of car
transport can be implemented.
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