Most of Beijing residents want their municipal government to deal with traffic congestion, according to a survey that asked questions about what were the priorities of the capital's government.

 

The survey, conducted by the Beijing Statistics Bureau, showed that 33 percent of the 2,430 residents interviewed said they most frustrated by the local traffic congestion. Medical care and employment were the next two biggest issues.

 

The survey was conducted in advance of the annual sessions of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress and Municipal People's Political Consultative Conference which are slated for late January. At these meetings the municipal government sets social and economic development plans for the year.

 

The Chinese capital city licensed 370,000 new motor vehicles last year -- more than 1,000 a day. There are now 2.87 million vehicles in the capital.

 

The municipal government has set out an ambitious plan to improve its public transit system to lure people out of their private cars.

 

According to the local transport development plan, Beijing will increase the length of chartered bus lanes from the current 165 kilometers to 540 km by 2010. The city's 15,000 buses now carry three billion passengers a year.

 

The city is also building numerous new rapid transit lines and by 2008 it will have nine metro lines with a total length of 200 km. It currently has four subway and light rail lines with a length of 114 km. By 2020 the city is expected to have 19 lines with a total length of 561.5 km.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2007)