Beijingers have long been expecting reforms to the public transport system.

Other cities such as Shanghai have already abolished monthly travelcards for buses and the subway, and raised the price of tickets.

In Beijing, the government plans to bring in an integrated travelcard for all public transport, in place of monthly tickets. But the public are divided on whether it is worth the cost. So what should the government do?

Beijing is one of the last few cities in China which still has monthly tickets. For ordinary people living in Beijing, subsidized monthly bus tickets are the only way to get around.

The prices of monthly tickets are currently 40 yuan for the bus and 50 yuan a month for the subway. The government puts another 50 yuan towards each monthly ticket. Once getting the ticket, the passenger can travel on a bus or underground as long, or as frequently, as he or she chooses.

But these cheap prices put a heavy burden on the municipal government and weaken the competitive edge of bus firms which rely heavily on government support. Some 1 billion yuan is spent by the municipal government each year to subsidize the monthly ticket system.

Shanghai was among the first Chinese cities to abolish cheap monthly tickets.

And people in Shenzhen in the country's south also think it's reasonable to abolish the tickets.

The continuous rise of energy prices has pushed the bus companies into a corner, with gasoline costs increasing by as much as 15 percent from year to year.

An estimated one in 10 Beijingers are monthly ticket holders – that's 1.3 million commuters.

The available routes for monthly tickets are usually the most busy and crowded ones. The use of the monthly ticket has greatly reduced profits on these particular lines.

Zhang Chengyao is a researcher from the China Academy of Social Sciences. He is strongly supporting the idea of abolishing the monthly bus tickets.

"I don't think this current system provides any economic or social benefits. On the one hand, the city government has to spend a billion yuan each year on subsidizing the public transport sectors. On the other hand, people aren't satisfied as monthly tickets can't be used on about half of the buses."

Five reform plans have been submitted to the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission. One is the IC pre-paid bus card.

Zhang Chengyao explains how IC cards would work.

"IC card prices should be set at a reasonable level. So the more of them you buy at once, the less each one costs. There should be a discount which balances the rights of commuters and bus companies."

Beijing first introduced the IC travelcard on December 31, 2003 and issued an initial 100,000 cards. But in 2004 less than 100,000 new consumers bought cards.

Professor Zhang insists that immediate reform is necessary for Beijing.

"There must be reforms. Beijing is lagging behind many cities in China like Shanghai and Tianjin. There should be a public hearing to rule on the matter."

(CRI June 9, 2005)