Shanghai traffic authorities will replace 1,750 public buses and
8,000 taxies with ones that meet tougher emission standards this
year as part of efforts to make the city's public transport more
environmentally friendly.
In a news release, authorities said they were giving "top
priority" to the development of the city's public transport.
They said a sound and efficient network is a reliable solution
to the city's growing traffic pressure.
Officials said the city needs a good transport system to cater
to the estimated 70 million visitors coming for the 2010 World
Expo.
By 2010, an estimated 16.9 million people will use public
transport vehicles in downtown every day, rising from the 12.25
million now, according to the Shanghai Urban Transport and
Management Bureau.
Public transport vehicles include buses, subway trains and
taxis.
The bureau also said that by 2010 more than 33 percent of people
who travel in town will use public transport. The proportion last
year was 25.5 percent, the bureau said.
"We must improve the service and speed of public buses before
they are chosen by more locals when travelling in town," said Yang
Xiong, a vice mayor of Shanghai, yesterday at a news
conference.
"Bus speeds have decreased over the years because of the growing
road pressures so they are losing their appeal among residents,"
Yang said.
To raise speeds, the city plans to designate more lanes that can
only be used by buses.
Traffic planners said they will increase the total length of
bus-only lanes from 70 kilometers to 300km.
Another 60 new traffic hubs shared by transit buses and the
Metro will be added to the current 24 over the next three years,
said officials.
The city will launch no more major road-widening projects in
downtown, given the traffic pressure as well as the limited
resources in road space, Yang said.
Traffic expansion will be handled by public transport in the
years to come, Yang said.
(Shanghai Daily April 21, 2007)