BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Operations started on 10 Olympic bus routes on Sunday to carry the expected increase in passengers to Beijing's major sports venues.
The routes will make up for the relative shortage of public transport around Olympic venues, said Yao Zhenping, assistant to the general manager of the Beijing Public Transport Holdings Group.
Photo taken on July 20, 2008 shows a traffic sign designed for one of ten newly opened Olympic Bus Lines in Beijing, China. The ten Olympic bus routes started to operate on Sunday to cope with the expected increase of passengers to Beijing's major sports venues. Another 24 special bus routes for the Olympics will be opened for traffic on Aug. 9. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Another 24 special bus routes for the Olympics will be opened for traffic on Aug. 9, he said.
The 34 routes will operate until Sept. 20, with some running around the clock.
Yao said the newly-opened routes would help transport some 500,000 passenger daily.
"With the new routes, passenger trips to the Olympic venues are becoming much easier now," said Ren Jun, a volunteer driver for the Olympic Line 1.
Beijing's 350 existing routes are to run later, said Zhou Zhengyu, deputy head of the Beijing Municipal Committee of Communications.
Photo taken on July 20, 2008 shows a bus station on one of the 10 new Olympic bus routes at Olympic Park in Beijing, China. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
The city's public transport system will be able to move 21.1 million passengers daily during the Olympics and Paralymics, according to Zhou.
Beijing has planned to add 3,000 buses to its roads in the month up to Aug. 8, when the Olympics kicks off, raising the daily handling capacity to 15 million passengers from 12.5 million.
The opening of several new metro lines and more than 60,000 cabs will also help to meet the increasing transport demand from spectators, athletes, reporters and travelers, he said.
Vehicles run on the west 2nd Ring Road in Beijing, July 20, 2008. The Chinese capital began on Sunday a two-month-long control of vehicle use to ease traffic pressure and improve air quality for the Olympic Games, set to open in 19 days. From July 20 through Sept. 20, vehicles with even and odd plate number run on alternate days in the metropolis, which boasts 3.29 million vehicles. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Sunday saw the start of two months of vehicle control in Beijing to ease traffic pressure and improve air quality for the Olympic Games.
Beijing's drivers found much fewer vehicles on the road and a much smoother drive in the morning, partly because it was on the weekend but largely because of the vehicle restrictions. Full story
BEIJING, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Beijing will lift the even-odd ban on vehicles between midnight and 3:00 a.m. every day during the Olympic Games, said the city transport department Saturday, a day before the ban is to take effect.
The city will impose an even-odd system based on licence plate numbers to keep vehicles off the roads on alternate days from July 20 to Sept. 20. This is to ease congestion and improve air quality. Full story
Photo taken on July 19 shows the transfer station of Line 10 and the Olympic Branch Line. Beijing opened three new subway lines on Saturday morning to ease traffic during the Olympic Games. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
BEIJING, July 19 (Xinhua) -- After finishing Olympic venue construction projects either on time or ahead of schedule, Beijing honored its commitment of ensuring smooth traffic by opening three new metro lines on Saturday.
An opening ceremony was held at Beitucheng Station, the transfer station of Line 10 and the Olympic Branch Line, on Saturday morning. Journalists and a limited number of residents with intra-day tickets witnessed the scene. The other line opened was the Airport Line. Full story
