A proposal to increase the subway fare in Beijing has commuters debating the merits of this move in a city choked with traffic and burgeoning public transport numbers. On June 19, 2011, Beijing Times reported that the city's transport authority was mulling over instituting a policy of price differences between rush hour and off-peak hours. The proposal is aimed at spreading the mass of subway commuters during rush hours, and it is hoped that increased fares will encourage people to take other or change travel times.

Chen Jie, Deputy Director of Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, once made a similar proposal at the beginning of 2010. Chen noted in his proposal that the subway fare should be raised to 5 or 6 yuan ($0.8 or 0.9) for those who didn't use a public transport prepaid card during peak hours from Monday to Friday, while for passengers during off-peak hours, the price remained at the current 2 yuan ($0.3).

Beijing commuters travel like sardines on overcrowded subways. Supporters of this proposal say a fare hike will ease passenger congestion, and an increase in the fare can also help to relieve the financial burdens of the subway operator. However, those opposed to the proposal said it would not solve the problem of peak hour gridlock, but only make it more difficult for commuters, most of whom have to take subway during peak hours to arrive at work on time. The key to improve subway capacity and in turn solve the problem lies in sound city planning, they said.

FOR

Cao Jie

Chinese journalist living in the UK

It is common for Londoners who work downtown to pay 10 pounds per day for subway fare. And the fare is increasing every year. Compared to that in London, the subway price is lower in Paris and even lower in Rome. However, when it comes to service, that in London is much better. By profiting from selling high price tickets, operators of the London subway add more trains so that the operational efficiency is improved, which is valued more by passengers.

While with conspicuous advantages, low price subway tickets also have drawbacks. As the fare is low, many people choose to take the subway to work, forgoing other options, like carpooling or choosing jobs close to home.

Actually, many people in European cities have reaped the benefits from the changes. For example, people have more time to do things they are interested in. Without increasing people's living costs, the changes also bring new impetus for economic development.

Sheng Hong

Research associate in Beijing

Currently, the low cost public transport policy is implemented with the premise of local government providing considerable fiscal subsidies. However, traffic jams still burden Beijingers despite the policy. In this sense, rather than subsidizing the subway fare, I think the subway authority should raise the price so that increased revenue can be invested in upgrading public transport infrastructure. Current funds spent on subway subsidies can rather be used in other ways to ease traffic congestion. These solutions will be more effective and worthwhile in dealing with the daily gridlock. In addition if there is to be a price hike of fares, it should be left to the market to decide, because it is a market issue, in which the government only plays a complementary role when that of the market is in dysfunction.

Li Wenbin

Professor from Central University of Finance & Economics

It is necessary to moderately increase the subway fare. To guide the citizens to use public transportation, the Beijing Municipal Government instituted the policy of low prices for subway and buses. That policy has achieved its purpose. The more prominent problem now is that the capacity of subway transportation cannot meet passengers' traveling demands. Therefore, it is ok to increase the price of the subway ticket so that the money can be used to construct more subway lines, which will be more useful in easing passenger congestion.

AGAINST

Feng Xuesong

Associate professor with Beijing Jiaotong University

I don't think increasing the subway fare during rush hours will ease overcrowding. Most rush-hour commuters can't change their travel time. Therefore, some of them will have to choose above ground transportation instead due to the increased fare, like taking a bus and driving a private car, which will worsen the traffic jams. 

Giving discounts to off-peak passengers is also impractical. There is nearly no room to cut the price, as the subway fare is already very low.

The reason why subway transport is currently overloaded is that the construction of subways is not effectively coordinated with the development plan of the city. There are hardly any associated industries to absorb workers in large suburban residential areas like Tiantongyuan and Tongzhou, the sources of most rush-hour commuters. Under such circumstances, people have to spend hours to take the subway to work. In this sense, to solve the problem of insufficiency in subway capacity, more rational city planning is needed besides building more subway lines.

Li Xiang

Company employee

People like me, who take the subway to work on weekdays, are all suffering, being forced to endure standing on the long ride pressed against others in hot conditions. But still, I don't believe the new policy will help ease the heavy use in peak times. Even if the ticket price were higher, people like me would not forgo taking the subway because of its punctuality and easy transfer. Besides subways, we have no other means to get to work, except taking buses and private cars, which will only result in jamming the already congested roads. Then what to do? Will the government increase the bus fare?

Another downside of this proposal is that it will bring a financial strain on wage earners, whose living costs are already very high.

So before raising the fare, I hope the transport authority considers it carefully and asks for public opinions.  

Michael Kan

Global Times

The policy obviously has good intentions. But I seriously doubt it will do much to the congestion seen on the city's subway.

For many people living in Beijing, the subway system is the most convenient way to travel across the city. It is not only cheap, but more importantly it is easy to navigate, especially for us foreigners. Just by looking up the subway map, one will be clearly aware of which route to take.

So I can't imagine what life will be, if people have to give up taking the subway because of the increased fare.

Moreover, it is unfair to force people to pay more for the subway service when there is no guarantee of definitely easing the passenger congestion. If the authorities can ensure I will always get seated in the subway, I am willing to welcome the price increase.