Beijingers wave bye to 2-yuan subways

Commuters wait for the next train at Sihui subway station in Beijing, May 22, 2014. [Photo/IC]

Beijing citizens will say goodbye to the city's low price transportation system next month with the municipal government announcing subway and bus fare hikes on Thursday.

The new fares, which formally take hold on December 28, put bus fares starting at two yuan (32 cents) and subway fares at three yuan.

Bus commuters travelling distance over 10 km must pay one yuan for every 5 km.

The price of a subway ticket ranges from three yuan to six yuan when travelling distance is below 32 km. People who go further need to pay one yuan for every 20 km.

At present, the city has a flat rate subway fare with unlimited transfers. To ease traffic congestion ahead of the Olympics in 2008, Beijing reduced bus tickets to as low as four jiao (six cents) and two yuan for subway tickets. Since then, prices have not changed.

Frequent commuters can receive discounts ranging from 20 percent to 50 percent depending on the monthly amount they spend on the subway, authorities said.

The number of passengers on Beijing subways hit 3.2 billion last year, an increase of 350 percent from 2007. Government subsidies also jumped from 13.5 billion yuan in 2010 to 20 billion yuan in 2013.

By the end of last year, the network of Beijing's subways reached 465 km, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport, making it one of the world's longest.

Another 13 subway lines are under construction and will add 208 km to the total length of the subway network.