According to Li Chuanli, a publicity official with the Beijing Municipal Subway General Company, the replacement for the paper tickets is yet to be decided although it is possible that an Internet protocol (IP) card, or a magnetic card will take over.

The card, whatever it is, will be easy to get hold of. With it, people will no longer have to go out of their way for a ticket every time they want to take a subway train or a bus. "The card can even be used to pay for a taxi," he said.

The general company has wanted to solve the problem of long queues in rush hour for a long period of time, but have so far failed to get the desired result.

"The replacement of traditional paper tickets with special cards should help here, especially if we can install enough ticket machines at different stations," said Li.

The company finished a large-scale passenger survey on Monday.

"We want to figure out how many automatic ticket machines each station will need, with their varied passenger volumes," explained Li.

Zhao Xiahong, a member of the platform staff with the general company at Xizhimen Station, disclosed that some of them had been instructed to prepare for relocation because of the installation of the machines.

Li also indicated the change in tickets is only one step being taken by the municipal government to technically upgrade Beijing's public transportation system so that it will cope with the huge crowds during the 2008 Olympic Games.

As far as the subway is concerned, the management is backward in comparison with other major cities in the world, he said. Beijing's 54-kilometre-long subway caters for more than 10 million people every day and all of the tickets are sold by hand.

Sources with the municipal bus and taxi administrations admitted that they had heard about the reforms, but are yet to see any evidence of practical moves.

Meanwhile, subways in Beijing will soon be moving in the right direction when the stations are fitted with escalators.

"This will greatly benefit passengers, especially the young, old, and those carrying heavy items," said Dai Xian, a member of the Beijing Municipal People's Political Consultative Conference.

It was a proposal made by Dai that urged the Beijing Municipal Subway General Company to add 17 escalators.

Dai believes the escalators are a gesture from the local government to the people of Beijing.

Beijing's subways were initially developed in the 1960s, when the country was in poor economic shape.

(China Daily December 19, 2001)