Rush Hour Four: Beijing's Subways

Don’t get too comfortable with keeping only two green-faced Maos in your wallet. Speculation over whether subway prices will increase during rush hour have abounded on the web and while mum’s the word for the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission (BMDRC), we at the Beijinger decided to revisit history and explore the pros and cons of price adjustment.

Earlier this year, Chen Jie, deputy director of Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD) and a member of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), circulated a proposal to increase ticket prices to RMB 5 or 6 during rush hour (i.e. 6.30am-9am and 4.30pm-9pm). Under his proposed plan, passengers with an IC card would be exempt from the price hike; they would continue to pay RMB 2 per trip. In other words: Sorry, tourists and spoiled expats with drivers, but you’re out of luck.

This isn’t the first time price adjustments have been on the BMDRC’s agenda. Let's take a look at how subway prices have changed over the years. Between 1971 and 1987, a subway journey cost a mere RMB 0.1. Through the end of 1995, the price of a single journey stayed below RMB 0.5. Then, in 1996, the price jumped to RMB 2 per ticket.

In 2002, the transit authorities began testing a pricing system based on distance. A subway trip of 1-3 stops cost RMB 2, a journey of 4-6 stops cost RMB 3, a trip of 7-9 stops was RMB 4, and the fare for 9 or more stops was RMB 5. Over on Line 13, all journeys cost RMB 3, but a transfer would add RMB 5 to the fare. In 2007, as the Olympics approached, the distance-based system was scrapped. All subway tickets went back to a flat fee to RMB 2 and there they have remained since.

However, the recent talks of price adjustment, real or false they may be, manage to touch on the very palpable problem of traffic control.

There are two main benefits of incorporating price adjustments.

• People will become more sensitive to the price and those who can afford to will defer to an off-peak time
• Inflated prices could translate to increased revenue used to improve the transportation system and get rid of those darn sinkholes that oddly enough keep popping up.

After the letter B, comes C: the consequences.

• Ticket prices are already low and increasing it to RMB 5 or 6 won’t make a huge difference – much less so if the IC card exception proves true.
• The substitute options aren’t exactly stellar. If you aren’t traveling down below, chances are you’re doing it up on streets already heavily congested with cars and buses. By pushing more people out of the subway, the government runs the risk of increasing the carbon footprint being left on the environment.

Another option that the BMDRC should (and has hinted that they will) look into is improving the current subway system and increasing the number of lines in areas that are more more populated, such as the Batong Line and Line 5.

While the map above was posted as a joke, there may be more truth than fiction to its message. Not only would it help disperse the number of passengers in more populated areas, but it could potentially offer shorter and thus quicker routes to work. For now though, the riders of Beijing’s subways will have to let go of any notion of personal space and cozy up.

Photos: www.china.org.cn, www.focus.cn