Bigger role for subway by 2015

Fifty percent of vehicular trips will be made on public transport by 2015, with the subway accounting for half of these, Shanghai's transportation authority said at a press conference Wednesday.

Around 24.5 million passengers will use some form of public transport each day by 2015, an increase of 41.9 percent over the period January to August this year. The subway will account for around 50 percent of these, compared to the current 38.8 percent. Trips made on buses currently account for 49.3 percent of trips on public transport.

The transportation authority also released a series of detailed public transportation construction goals that it intends to achieve by 2015.

As of August, Shanghai had 23,331 kilometers of bus routes and 13 metro lines stretching a total 491 kilometers, with 302 metro stations. Bus services are available within 100 meters of around 83 percent of metro stations.

By 2015, the city will have a total 600 kilometers of subway lines and all metro stations will have bus services available within 50 meters, said Sun Jianping, director of the Shanghai Municipal Transport and Port Authority.

The transportation authority will construct 300 kilometers of bus-priority roads, allowing buses to travel an average 20 kilometers per hour in downtown areas, compared to the average vehicle speed of 15 kilometers per hour.

The authority will construct a system covering the city's 14,000 buses and 950 bus routes that will allow operators to dispatch extra bus services when needed, for example over exceptionally busy rush hours.

The authority will introduce more environmentally friendly buses that use gas and electricity. These will account for 72 percent of all buses in the city by 2015. The energy consumed by public transport will be reduced by 10 percent.

The authority will also increase salaries for public transport drivers.

By 2015, the authority will complete the pilot construction of tram lines in Songjiang and Fengxian districts. There will be a Bus Rapid Transit line linking Nanqiao town in Fengxian district and Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Pudong New Area.

The authority will also boost the development of intercity public transport, including sche