Beijing Olympics – Challenge: Mass Transit
Courtesy of Jay Bavishi, Ivy League Correspondent
As the Games are about to begin, one must understand the infrastructure preparation that went into launching such a global event, both from a long-term and short-term perspective. One could easily get the impression from being in Beijing that everything has been built within the last month given the speed at which the city is rising. Yet in fact, elevating the city to world-class status is an effort that has been in the works for quite a while. The following is the first of a three-part mini-series that will lead up to the Opening Ceremonies.
Beijing Subway
In operation since 1969, the Beijing Subway seeks to alleviate the city’s legendary traffic snarls. Initially starting with just one line, it was not until 1987 that the city had two subway lines. Upon winning the bid to host the Olympics in 2001, however, subway construction kicked into full gear and the government committed over $7 billion to expanding the reach of the system. Additional lines opened in 2002, 2003, 2007, and most recently on July 19, 2008. The latest installment added three additional lines to the service – including a train to the airport as well as a train onto the Olympic Green.
With the expansion, ridership has grown — a strategy that the government hopes will alleviate traffic, and eventually, pollution. Ridership hit 607 million in 2004, up from a low of 434 million back in 1998. To put this number in perspective, New York City, with a very comparable metropolitan population to Beijing, had a subway ridership of 1.45 billion people in 2005 alone — so Chinese capitol has some work to do.
Along with new lines has come great advancement in ticketing technology. Anticipating the deluge of visitors during the Olympics, the city has abandoned its previous fare collection system — which resembled a process usually seen at a county fair. Beijing city planners eliminated the process of walking up to a ticket window, paying a fare, receiving a paper ticket, handing in the paper ticket — in favor of a more modern card (called a Yikatong Card) that can be inserted into the turnstiles for a single-ride or scanned for a card stored with fares for multiple rides. These fare cards also work on the city buses — again, integrating the system and making it easier for Olympic visitors.
Despite low ridership on the subway compared to New York City, the crowd is significant during rush hour — also contributing to the crowd are smaller trains and platforms.
The type of congestion shown in the video should become much diluted as construction continues on additional lines. If everything goes according to schedule, there will be 17 lines either in existence or under construction when the year 2015 comes along. And by the year 2025, all 17 lines will have been completed and fully operational — creating the world’s largest metro system.
The entire map of the Beijing Subway can be found here.
Practical subway tips for the Ivy Olympic traveler:
1) Purchase a Yikatong fare card (20 kuai) for the convenience of not having to purchase a single-ride ticket for every subway ride. If staying for the entire Games, put approximately 80 kuai on the card.
2) Do as the Chinese do… if you see someone cutting the line to get on the subway, you should do the same. Otherwise you will be left on the platform waiting until the next train arrives.
3) All signs on the Beijing subway are in English. This is a much better scenario that what is commonplace in a taxicab.
