Chapter 13 10. Urban traffic

Over the past two decades, urban transportation in China has changed. In 1980, the urban population accounted for 13% of China's total population.In 2009, this figure increased to 46.6%! Before 2015, China will continue to accelerate the pace of urbanization.By the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), China's urbanization rate will reach 50%, with an urban population of 700 million.And by 2030, this number will reach 1 billion.Of these new urban residents, more than 70 percent will come mainly from rural areas. Given these dramatic changes close to global trends, rapid urbanization and new Chinese population distribution, infrastructure and transportation will become one of the important factors to measure the balanced development of China's national economy.

The golden age of Chinese bicycles as we know them is over!In cities, more economical and convenient public transportation methods such as subways and buses are constantly developing after bicycles and walking.As in other areas, China is improving its infrastructure!In those big cities that are worthy of the name "future laboratories", transportation methods should appear to be richer and more convenient. In rural areas, the total length of roads is 3.3 million kilometers, connecting 99.4% of the country's towns and villages.In China, residents of 35,000 townships and 553,000 villages can take buses.The 12th Five-Year Plan is expected to invest 1.3 billion euros in the construction of roads in rural areas.

Taxis are also plentiful in China, and this mode of transportation is more convenient and cheaper.Most taxis have meters.When you want to go to a farther place, you can negotiate a price with the driver instead of calculating the price by the meter. Taxis are everywhere, day and night!One can easily call a taxi...Chinese drivers are service minded when dealing with customers, although not so fluent in English when communicating with tourists.But in the big cities, people's English skills are improving, especially in Hong Kong, of course due to its specific history. In addition to improving and perfecting the existing traditional transportation methods, the Chinese are looking for more innovative solutions to urban transportation.That is the future "air bus" we are referring to now, which will be a revolutionary concept of environmental protection!

Chinese designers have found new solutions to reduce congestion on Beijing's main roads and avoid traffic jams. "Solar buses" will fly meters above city traffic: cheap, fast and environmentally friendly.The bus can reach a speed of 60 kilometers per hour and can transport 1,400 passengers. The bus will ride over regular cars, spanning the width of two motorway lanes.Cars under two meters can pass under the solar bus.The platform of the train is also set at a high place, and ordinary cars no longer have to slow down because of the traditional bus occupation and parking! There is nothing better than the subway to improve China's urban transportation and make travel unimpeded!China is in a period of rapid urbanization, which is marked by massive investment and accelerated construction of urban rail transport infrastructure.

In order to better promote public transport, initiatives such as "Car Free Day" have begun to be held in many Chinese cities! Whether it is the capital Beijing, which has become an international metropolis since the 2008 Olympic Games, Shanghai, an economic metropolis, Chongqing, a famous mountain city in southwest China, or Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and other cities, Chinese cities are equipped with high-speed subway lines and City railway line. Beijing's subway is the earliest subway in China.However, its construction only started in 1965!Since then, the Beijing Subway has 14 modern subway lines, receiving 5 million passengers every day, and its train cars are always packed to the brim.

Beijing had 228 kilometers of subway lines and railway lines in 2010, and by the end of 2020, more than 1,000 kilometers of railway lines will be put into operation in Beijing.China's capital city plans to have 15 railway lines in 2015, with a total length of 561 kilometers. By 2050, the total length of light rail and subway lines in Chinese cities will exceed 2,000 kilometers, and people will rely on these transportation methods for 50% to 80% of their travel. As in other fields, Chinese companies are developing future technologies together with Western companies such as Alstom.In addition, Chinese companies have also begun to export their subways. Trains like these made in China will run on Indian railways in the future.

We can also take Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co., Ltd. as an example.The company has opened up export markets outside of Asia and is interested in signing contracts with countries in Western Europe for the renewal of subway cars, as it is currently doing in Canada and Montreal.