Guangzhou has introduced a five-year transport development plan, which aims at lessening transport jams in downtown areas and optimizing the public transport system in the city.

According to the plan, seven bus lanes will be allocated and 218 crossroads will be redesigned by the end of this year.

The plan also specifies 116 new bus stations and 32 transport hubs in the coming years, which facilitate connections among different public transport systems, including Metro, buses, trolleys and taxis. Seventy-nine new bus terminal stations will be constructed to prevent buses from parking in lanes.

The plan was launched to handle the increasing traffic jams and decreasing vehicle speed in Guangzhou.

"With urbanization, the city has seen more and more traffic, especially in downtown areas. However, public transport did not offer the expected functions," said vice Mayor Su Zequn in a recent meeting.

"In 2004, Guangzhou's public transport served 2.5 billion (million) persons, making up only 24 percent of the city traffic. This is far below some other big cities in the world," he said.

Hong Kong's public transport has the ability to make up 90 percent of the city traffic. In London and Japan, public transport makes up 72 percent and 87 percent of the total traffic, respectively.

Su said the city would implement public transport development strategies and balance the public transport network to build a multi-dimensional transport system.

"We'll invest 7.66 billion yuan (US$950 million) on road constructions this year. An intelligent transport administration system was recently introduced and is expected to effectively reduce traffic jams," he said.

(Shenzhen Daily September 23, 2005)