After the Beijing Youth Daily reported on December 11 that the Beijing Public Transport will be investing 12.8 billion (US$ 1.6 billion) yuan to update the city?s existing bus fleet, we have been asked if this is a reality or an "impossible dream."
Interviewed again on December 17, Feng Fuxing, the vice general manager of Beijing Public Transport, explained further:
Investing 12.8 billion yuan (US$ 1.6 billion) into new buses is one part of the ?Olympic Program? and has been submitted respectively to the Municipal Planning Commission and Municipal Public Traffic Administration by the Beijing Public Transport.
The figure of 12.8 billion yuan is not an "impossible dream," Feng said, but rather a figure reached by experts according precise calculations.
After the success of Beijing's bid for the 2008 Olympiad, the municipal government asked the relevant departments to put forward the plans to fulfill targets mentioned in the bid, Feng said. One of the targets was that all the city buses be modified to burn natural gas. [Some old buses now still burn gasoline or even diesel fuel.] According to scientific research, 12.8 billion yuan would be needed to switch 90 percent of the existing buses to the cleaner fuel and to build more gas stations. The Beijing Public Transport decided to purchase over 10,000 new buses powered by natural gas or electricity and also some barrier-free access buses for disabled people.
Since December 11 the Beijing Public Transport has received a great many enquiries from well-wishing passengers, Feng said. He added that the plan will be fulfilled gradually rather than all of a sudden, so great changes will not take place abruptly.
( 北京青年报 [Beijing Youth Daily] by Jiang Shuo on December 18, translated for china.org.cn by unisumoon)
