Beijing's First Ring Road 'Express' Bus Is Slow to Impress

By Justine Lopez

When you live in a city like Beijing you tend to pay a little too much attention to traffic-related news. Beijing is, after all, home to some of the world’s worst traffic. So any time someone proposes a new idea to help curb the city’s congestion, we’re all ears.

READ MORE: Are Straddling Buses the Future of Beijing Transport?

Suffice it to say we were excited when we heard that the first-ever ring road express bus would start operating at the beginning of the month. On October 10, a fleet of express buses started running their new route on the Third Ring Road, one of the most traffic-riddled roadways in the city. It sounded good in theory, but we suppose we shouldn’t be surprised that things didn’t exactly go according to plan.

The purpose of an express bus was to lessen the brutal commute time, not match it. But instead it took a whopping 134 minutes to complete the route – that’s only six minutes less than it usually takes, Beijing Today reports.

The whole ordeal left many commuters miffed that the supposed ‘express’ bus was so severely delayed.

According to the spokesperson of Beijing Public Transport, many of the entrances and exits along the Third Ring Road were blocked during the trip, leading to delays. However, heavy traffic caused other vehicles to illegally use the express lane (surprise, surprise), which also contributed to the issue.

Zhao Zhen, deputy director of General Transport at the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission, said that it will likely take time for the city’s drivers to accommodate the new express buses.

Only time will tell...

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