By Li Xing (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-12-13 07:42

When Subway Line 5 opened on October 7, my family took a ride downtown happily.

However, after a few weeks, we started to drive downtown again when the three of us travel together. We take the subway only when we travel alone. We hesitate taking a ride together, because it is very crowded.

Since its opening, the 27.5-km line that links densely-populated Tiantongyuan in the north to areas down south through Dongdan - the heart of Beijing - carries an average of 400,000 passengers daily. It is about 20,000 commuters more than the previously projected maximum number.

With the opening of Line 5, the number of subway commuters in Beijing has increased by 59 percent to about 2.5 million a day on average.

The city's public transport system is still not well connected. The other day, my parents, who live about 14 km southeast of where I live, spent an hour-and-a-half taking a bus and then subway Line 5 to get to my home.

Meanwhile, traffic seems to be getting worse in areas such as Zhongguancun where department stores, book stores, and electronic goods markets are concentrated. Smog was pretty serious over the past weekend.

The sharp increase in the number of subway passengers and continuous traffic congestion only reflects how much Beijing, as well as other big cities in China, need to give priority to the development of public transportation, especially a sound rail and bus system.

I believe whether a city is modern or not is not reflected by how many cars or how many apartments its residents own, but by how extensively it can serve its residents' needs and by making it convenient for them to go about their daily life.

Moreover, as global warming is reaching the tipping point with the odds of reversing it seemingly slim, Beijing should muster up more funding and effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Developing public transport and discouraging the unlimited use of cars is an important strategy.

The happy news is that Beijing has not stopped at Line 5. Work started last Saturday on building or extending five subway lines.

Although there was no glamorous celebration to mark the event, we cannot ignore the fact that today, a total of 10 subway lines are simultaneously under construction in China's capital. It is projected that by 2015, subway lines will stretch about 561 km in Beijing.

Residents will be able to walk about 1,000 m at most to reach any one of the stations within the Fourth Ring Road. Those residing in the satellite cities in the suburbs - Changping, Shunyi, Mentougou, Fangshan, Tongzhou, Yizhuang and Daxing - will be able to reach downtown by rail.

Beijing has come a long way with its subway construction. Between 1969 and 2001, only 42 km of subway lines was completed. Line 1 opened to regular traffic 10 years after it was completed in October 1969.

With the intensive work underway, we only hope that by 2015, most of us will find it easier and more convenient to travel downtown or uptown using public transport.

And hopefully by then, Beijing will be able to reduce exhaust emissions from cars and improve air quality and the environment, as fewer people will feel the need to travel by car.

E-mail: lixing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/13/2007 page10)