SHENZHEN Transport Commission unveiled its white book on city transport development and the measures to relieve traffic congestion Sunday in a move to build the city into an international-level public transport model city in five years. Residents can check details at www.sxtb.gov.cn and www.sutpc.com to download the drafts and are encouraged to voice their ideas and opinions by e-mailing sajt-ghzx@163.com or baipishu@sut-pc.com before Oct. 31. Han Ximin SHENZHEN will form a comprehensive public transport network focusing on public transport such as Metro and buses, supplemented by taxis and cycling lanes, according to a white book released by the government. The city will implement nine projects to improve the efficiency of public transport, build more bus terminals, introduce new technology to road safety management and increase the number of cycling lanes. The system which includes 62 subsidiary projects will cost a total of 16.3 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion). By the end of 2015, the city will build a Metro rail network of 348 kilometers and add around 3,000 buses. By the end of 2015, the combined length of Shenzhen’s bus lanes will reach 780 kilometers. The city will renovate the traffic signaling system at major roads such as Shennan, Sungang and Huanggang roads and give priority to public transport to ensure buses can consistently reach 20 kilometers per hour during rush hours. In addition, the city will expand the use of Shenzhen Tong cards by issuing 15 million cards by the end of 2015. The city will build 36 terminals offering seamless connection with Metro trains The departures of 80 percent of the buses will be controlled within an interval of six minutes to save the time of commuters in shifting between buses and Metro trains. To promote low-carbon commuting, the city will introduce 4,000 new-energy buses and build 50 electricity charging stations by the end of 2012. By the end of 2015, the number of new-energy buses will account for half of Shenzhen’s total buses. | 