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08-10-2007
A
consensus is forming around the need for public
transport to take on the pollution and inconvenience
created by urban traffic.
Beijing's municipal government last year said
it would set aside 2 billion yuan (US$260 million)
a year to subsidize the price of bus tickets,
lowering the cost of a ticket to 1 yuan, or
0.40 yuan for people who use stored-value cards.
The move slashed the cost of public transport
for residents by a big margin.
That municipal government authorities are treating
the policy as a long-term prospect rather than
a matter of expediency indicates that they have
finally identified where the real problem is
- that the city's increasingly congested traffic
and pollution from auto vehicles emissions have
become pressing hazards.
It is apparent that the purpose of cheap and
convenient public transport is not just to benefit
lower-income residents, but also to have the
long-term effect of alleviating the pressure
caused by the ever-increasing number of cars
on the roads.
Cheaper tickets are one way of widening the
cost gap between using public transport and
driving cars. The larger the gap is, the more
likely it is that people will give up driving
in favor of buses and subways.
Editor:Ida.
Zhang from Chinabuses.com
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