Transport in Beijing

Beijing, as the capital and one of the four municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a transport hub, with a sophisticated network of roads, railways and two major airports.

Five completed ring roads encircle the city with nine expressways heading in virtually all compass directions, supplemented by eleven China National Highways.

From the centre of the city outward, they are: The "1st Ring" of Beijing refers to the historic tram route (now demolished) through Xidan, Ping'anli, Di'anmen, Beixinqiao, Dongdan and Tiananmen.

The G95 Capital Area Loop Expressway, which has sections in Beijing's Pinggu, Tongzhou, & Daxing districts, is often unofficially referred to as the "7th Ring Road".

Traffic in the city centre is often gridlocked and is only predicted to get worse as the number of vehicles on Beijing's roads increase.

In 2008 Beijing introduced restrictions on the number of cars on its roads in attempt to reduce congestion and pollution during the Olympic games period.

Drivers who were unable to use their cars did not have to pay road or vehicle taxes, costing the city around 1.3 billion yuan.

[5] On Feb 21, 2022, Beijing experienced its worst traffic in five years due to the beginning of school and reserved Olympic lanes remaining closed to the public.

[6] Beijing has an extensive public transportation network of buses, trolleybuses, suburban rail and a rapidly expanding subway system.

It is owned by the city and, as of 2009, operated nearly 28,000 buses (including trolleybuses) on 882 bus routes and delivered 5.03 billion rides in 2009.

Idling time is also factored into the total fare, which is CNY2.30 (CNY4.60 during rush hours of 07:00−09:00 and 17:00−19:00) per 5 minutes of standing or running at speeds lower than 12 km/h (7.5 mph) .

All legal cabs will be part golden yellow or all black in color, and display their permits and paperwork on the dash board and windshield.

These quaint modes of transport also employ the pre-negotiated fare system In 1999, the environmentally unsound "bread cars" (Minivans) (mianbao che, a.k.a.

Although it was sound, budget-wise, their poor environmental record and an increasing consciousness of the image of the capital were the factors that landed them in the dumpster.

Beijing Capital International Airport (IATA: PEK) is located in bordering Shunyi and being 32 kilometres (20 mi) northeast of the city center in Chaoyang.

The following eight major railways radiate out of Beijing: The city also hosts a number of high speed railway lines: Further high speed connections being proposed include links to Shenyang, Tangshan, Zhangjiakou, Kowloon, Taipei, and Taiyuan.