Electric vehicles

ALL of the buses in Shenzhen will be powered by electricity by the end of September, with some exceptions for emergencies, according to the city government.

So far, there are 14,695 electric buses, accounting for 90 percent of the city’s buses. As of July 31, electric taxis have accounted for 30.58 percent of the total.

According to 2017 financial support policies for new-energy automobiles, subsidies for each electric bus amount to 22,000 yuan (US$3,236).

Legionella bacteria

RECENTLY, legionella pneumophila, a bacteria that may lead to respiratory and renal failure, was detected in Shenzhen at Shatoujiao, Huanggang, Futian, Wenjingdu checkpoints and the airport, according to the city’s inspection and quarantine bureau.

Legionella pneumophila is an atypical pneumonia bacteria spread by the cold blast of air conditioning, especially a closed one.

The central air conditioning at the immigration halls of the checkpoints will be cleaned, disinfected and retested to prevent infections.

Multistory garages

SHENZHEN will build more than 10 multi-story garages this year, aiming to provide more parking places in limited space. According to official statistics, Shenzhen had more than 3.4 million registered vehicles as of the end of 2016, which tops the nation in terms of vehicle density — the number of vehicles per kilometer of road. The city now has about 1.25 million parking places registered with the traffic police authority, meaning that about two-thirds of the vehicles in the city have no place to park.

New bridge

A BRIDGE connecting Bao’an District in Shenzhen and Chang’an Township in Dongguan is expected to be opened to traffic this month, greatly shortening the travel time between the neighboring areas to five minutes from the current 40 minutes. The 1.45-kilometer bridge has six lanes going in two directions with a speed limit of 60 kilometers per hour. Bao’an District’s Shajing Subdistrict is separated from Chang’an by Dongbao River. Currently, motorists in Shajing have to take National Highway 107 or Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway to get to Chang’an.

Quality festival

THE First Shenzhen Quality Consumption Festival was launched at the Civic Center on Friday. Residents are invited to vote for the top 50 brands that they think represent Shenzhen’s quality.