To support the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Beijing has built a comprehensive transportation network and plans to build a Capital Region Ring Expressway to benefit the region, local officials said.
In the past five years, eight expressways have been completed and opened. By the end of this year, the total mileage of expressways in Beijing is estimated to reach 1,174 kilometers, with a one-hour traffic circle in the core area of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and a 1.5-hour traffic circle among neighboring cities basically formed, according to Rong Jun, deputy director of the Beijing Commission of Transport.
Six interprovincial bus routes including the ones from Pinggu district in Beijing to Zunhua and Xinglong in Hebei province were opened. Thirty-eight interprovincial public transport lines were put into operation, with a total mileage of more than 2,700 km covered and an average daily passenger volume of more than 400,000 handled.
Rong said at a news conference earlier this month that Beijing has held joint meetings with Tianjin and Hebei and they have issued nine common transportation standards. The region will further conduct joint legislation, law enforcement and governance for overloading.
Two key transportation projects for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics that are expected to connect the inner city of Beijing, Beijing's Yanqing district and Zhangjiakou in Hebei province have come into service. One is the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway, which cuts travel time from downtown Beijing to Yanqing on the outskirts of the city to 20 minutes, from Yanqing to Zhangjiakou to 30 minutes and from Beijing to Zhangjiakou to 50 minutes.
The 161-km Beijing-Chongli expressway is another working example supporting the region's winter sports industry. Chongli is one of the competition sites in Zhangjiakou. Local officials said that with the newly launched expressway, travel time has been shortened by one hour.
Rong said Beijing is now advancing the construction of the 923-km Capital Region Ring Expressway, which will link many places outside the capital to ease its traffic burden and boost the growth of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
The 38-km section between Beijing's southern Daxing district and eastern Tongzhou district opened to traffic in July 2018. In June this year, the transportation departments of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei signed an agreement on alternative routes and agreed to include the project into their respective work plan for the next five years.
In addition, Beijing is accelerating the construction of the Beijing-Xiongan expressway, which connects Beijing and Xiongan New Area in Hebei. Its section in Beijing is set to open to vehicles by the end of 2021. The construction of the city terminal with rail access to Beijing Daxing International Airport in Lize Business District will start within this year.
