Shanghai traffic authorities will replace 1,750 public buses and 8,000 taxies with ones that meet tougher emission standards this year as part of efforts to make the city's public transport more environmentally friendly.

In a news release, authorities said they were giving "top priority" to the development of the city's public transport.

They said a sound and efficient network is a reliable solution to the city's growing traffic pressure.

Officials said the city needs a good transport system to cater to the estimated 70 million visitors coming for the 2010 World Expo.

By 2010, an estimated 16.9 million people will use public transport vehicles in downtown every day, rising from the 12.25 million now, according to the Shanghai Urban Transport and Management Bureau.

Public transport vehicles include buses, subway trains and taxis.

The bureau also said that by 2010 more than 33 percent of people who travel in town will use public transport. The proportion last year was 25.5 percent, the bureau said.

"We must improve the service and speed of public buses before they are chosen by more locals when travelling in town," said Yang Xiong, a vice mayor of Shanghai, yesterday at a news conference.

"Bus speeds have decreased over the years because of the growing road pressures so they are losing their appeal among residents," Yang said.

To raise speeds, the city plans to designate more lanes that can only be used by buses.

Traffic planners said they will increase the total length of bus-only lanes from 70 kilometers to 300km.

Another 60 new traffic hubs shared by transit buses and the Metro will be added to the current 24 over the next three years, said officials.

The city will launch no more major road-widening projects in downtown, given the traffic pressure as well as the limited resources in road space, Yang said.

Traffic expansion will be handled by public transport in the years to come, Yang said.

(Shanghai Daily April 21, 2007)