Professor Yang Xiaokuan from the Transportation Research Center of Beijing University of Technology said that in order to integrate transportation resources, as early as 2002, Beijing took the lead in setting up a special transportation committee. Beijing Municipal Government has invested 654.38+08 billion yuan to improve traffic congestion. It is reported that Olympic transportation will provide services for different groups of people, including athletes and team leaders, technical officials, members of the media, sponsors, staff and volunteers, and other members of the Olympic family and distinguished guests, as well as ordinary spectators and visitors. In the future, this improved system will bring greater benefits to Beijing residents.
Let's take a look at the planned traffic in Beijing.
The public transport system is improving day by day.
There is a resounding slogan called "If you want to be rich, build roads first", but if you misappropriate it in Beijing today, it may mean "If you don't want to be blocked, build roads first". In 2008, the transportation capacity of Beijing public railway will reach 4.5 billion passengers/year, and the number of operating vehicles will reach 1.8 million. There will be more than 650 bus lines, and the network density will reach 2. 16km/km2. In addition, rail transit, as an important auxiliary of urban public transport system, can increase the proportion of public transport from the current 28. 1% to 42% during the Games, effectively slowing down the ground traffic flow.
The survey shows that in new york, London, Tokyo and other international metropolises, the utilization rate of public transport system exceeds 50%, while that of Beijing is only 23.4%. Nowadays, the public passenger transport system with rapid rail transit as the backbone and ground bus as the main body will undertake 60% of citizens' daily commuting trips, and its share in the total daily trips will also increase to more than 40%, and the taxi vacancy rate will drop from 48% to less than 25%.
BRT debut.
In addition to the subway and bus system, a new thing-BRT has appeared in Beijing.
BRT Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a unique large-capacity urban public transport system between rapid rail transit (RRT) and conventional public transport (NBT). It uses modern bus technology to cooperate with intelligent transportation and operation management, opens up bus-only roads, equips new bus stops, and realizes rail transit operation services.
The first and only BRT in Beijing, with a total length of 16 km. These two carriages with large passenger capacity are the main roads in southern Beijing. The key word to achieve speed also lies in "right of way". BRT enjoys independent right of way, with strictly closed lanes and closed stations, and can get the green light set by the system when reaching the intersection. The secret is that when the BRT is equipped with the sensing device, it can control the traffic lights at the intersection ahead: if it is a green light, try to extend the green time as much as possible; If it is a red light, turn it into a green light as soon as possible, and naturally you can pass through every intersection leisurely.
"This is an attempt. Setting up such a BRT is mainly to change the status quo of cars and buses competing for road rights. " Professor Yang pointed out that the current distribution of road rights is unreasonable. After all, there are few drivers, and most people need to take the bus. However, if you look at the occupied road area, the result is completely opposite. The scanning ratio of cars and buses is between 1/2 and 1/3. At least 1: 60 if converted into passenger ratio. In the future, BRT system will be popularized, and the construction of Anli Road, Chaoyang Road and Fushi Road will be accelerated to form a rapid ground bus network. According to the plan, the BRT in Beijing will reach 300 kilometers in the future.
However, BRT has also been questioned by people. The biggest focus is that only buses can pass, which may take up too many resources and cause undue waste. So experts are also weighing. Comparatively speaking, BRT in the United States is not completely closed, but allows other vehicles to follow behind, which may be worth learning.
Barrier-free quasi-bus system
Barrier-free projects during the Olympic Games are also the focus of attention of transportation experts. There are nearly 80 million disabled people in China, but they seldom travel. We may never have imagined how disabled people take buses. The Olympic Games is to solve this problem, so that they can all go to the Olympic venues to watch the games, and the traffic problem bears the brunt.
Drawing on foreign experience, many barrier-free buses were prepared during the Olympic Games. This is a preparatory transportation system with a low chassis design, which serves the disabled and the elderly who are inconvenient to travel and facilitates their boarding.
The concept of accessibility originated from architecture, and now it is gradually combined with transportation, but there are still many places to be improved. Take the subway as an example. At present, subways in many cities are equipped with barrier-free elevators, but the utilization rate is extremely low, just like a decoration. There are many reasons for this. Apart from insufficient publicity, the biggest problem is that there is no relevant connection. "We may never put ourselves in their shoes. It is not enough to equip the subway with barrier-free facilities to solve the problem of getting on and off. What should I do from my residence to the subway? What should I do when I get out of the subway? None of this is guaranteed. There is a big loophole in the connection between barrier-free transportation facilities. What is lacking most is systematization, but this work cannot be completed by one department. " However, in any case, this problem has begun to arouse people's thinking and concern. The government has also invested a lot of money, hoping that these 80 million disabled people can enjoy the developed and convenient transportation services like normal people and have the opportunity to watch the Olympic Games.
Intelligent transportation system is real-time and reliable.
In the Olympic transportation system, the concept of high-tech Olympics is everywhere, and its intelligent transportation system is the most typical one. Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is not only a traffic diversion, but also a real-time, accurate and efficient integrated traffic management and control system by effectively integrating advanced sensor technology, communication technology, automatic control technology, computer technology and data processing technology.
ITS started late in China. The Olympic Games promoted the development of ITS, and it will be applied to Olympic traffic management, public transportation and emergency management.
During the Olympic Games, managers, decision makers and even emergency management departments need a lot of real-time information and data to track and control the congestion and operation of a certain section at all times, and release it in time to give useful information to the most ordinary travelers. The biggest highlight of ITS is that it can use modern science and technology to establish intelligent connections between roads, drivers and passengers, and provide reliable, effective and real-time information for every traveler. For example, the variable information provided by big screens in public places (especially around the Olympic Games) will help people who go to the Olympic venues to watch the games and make their travel faster and more convenient. In other words, if people know that there is a problem at their destination or along the route through the Internet, radio and other channels, they can change their travel routes or cancel their travel plans, thus alleviating the possible greater traffic congestion.
At present, researchers have completed the transportation planning of the Olympic Village, but its technology is only used in the surrounding areas of the Olympic Village and tested during the Olympic Games. If some of these technologies are very practical, they will be widely promoted in the future. The technology of its intelligent transportation system is very expensive to use and can only be used where it is most needed at present.
Management is greater than construction.
Even though there are many constructions, Professor Yang still thinks that "strengthening traffic management ability is more important than construction, and it is the most effective measure". To solve the traffic congestion in Beijing, we cannot rely entirely on hardware facilities. The fundamental way out lies in rational planning.
The biggest traffic pressure during the Olympic Games comes from the rapid expansion of the number of motor vehicles, and the construction of roads has failed to keep up with the increase in the number of cars. At present, the number of motor vehicles in Beijing exceeds 3 million, and more than 1000 vehicles are sold every day. It is estimated that it will reach 3.5 million vehicles during the Olympic Games. On the one hand, it is a symbol of the development and prosperity of the capital, but on the other hand, the explosion of motor vehicles has also brought various serious negative effects to the environment and brought pressure to the traffic situation.
During the China-Africa Forum in 2006, some buses in Beijing were restricted, and 70% of the buses in the municipal government stopped. The central government units in Beijing have also implemented certain measures to stop driving, and at the same time advocated private car owners to stop driving or drive less, which greatly improved the traffic situation. During the "Good Luck Beijing" Olympic comprehensive test competition from August 17 to August 20, 2007, Beijing consciously implemented the management measures of separating single and even numbers of motor vehicles and sealing up buses, and the number of motor vehicles decreased from 13 1000 to1360,000, and the traffic volume on urban main roads decreased by 30%. At the same time, this measure has greatly improved the air quality, and the monitoring data also show that the implementation of even and odd numbers has played an expected role in relieving traffic pressure. "I deliberately went to experience it and it was smooth all the way. This can be seen as a' preview' of Olympic traffic, and it will only be better during the Olympics. "
According to Professor Yang, according to the practice of previous Olympic Games, traffic demand management measures should be taken during the Olympic Games. Therefore, from July 20 this year to the end of the Paralympic Games, Beijing will take measures to restrict cars and seal up 50%~70% of all administrative units' buses. As a result, nearly 2 million cars will be unable to travel by then, and the traffic situation during the Olympic Games is worthy of optimism. The implementation of this temporary measure is somewhat helpless and inhuman, but on the other hand, if it is not implemented, the situation may be worse. Professor Yang thinks that this time, by informing people in advance, people can adapt as soon as possible.
Return to public transportation
Economic leverage and vigorous publicity have also played a positive role in ensuring convenient transportation during the Olympic Games. Through municipal subsidies, the low fares of buses and subways are very attractive. Clean carriages, accurate and timely stop reporting and publicity of bus advantages are also the cooperation of software and hardware. A series of measures have made many people return to the way of taking public transportation. At present, more than 30% citizens choose to take public transport. The publicity and appeal of public transport week, world car-free day, carpooling and other concepts, although not enforced, have achieved results. In 2007, after the cancellation of the Fifth Ring Road, it has attracted a part of the traffic volume of the Third and Fourth Ring Roads, which has played a very significant role in alleviating urban traffic.
Through the implementation of these measures, we have reason to believe that traffic congestion in Beijing can be effectively improved, and it is conceivable that people will change their concept of life, give up cars, return to bicycles and walk within a certain range.
However, this road to environmental protection is not smooth. Professor Yang admits that from the perspective of the whole transportation system, the convenience of transfer has not been achieved, not only between subways, but also between subways and ground transportation. In addition, more and more private cars and subways need to be improved.
Special activities during the Olympic Games
When Beijing applied for the Olympic Games, it made a commitment to the International Olympic Committee in terms of transportation. It takes no more than 30 minutes to travel from the athletes' residence to any competition venue.
In order to fulfill this promise and cope with the traffic congestion during rush hours, Beijing has used the experience of Athens and Sydney Olympic Games for reference, and laid a 300-kilometer Olympic lane network on the roads near the relevant venues, covering 107 related roads such as the Second Ring Road, the Fourth Ring Road, the Fifth Ring Road, Badaling Expressway and Jingcheng Expressway, which is the highest in previous Olympic Games. Dedicated lanes will be put into use during the Olympic Games, which can ensure that athletes can basically get unimpeded on the Olympic lanes from the Olympic Village to the competition venues, and the speed can reach 60 kilometers per hour. Moreover, "at that time, only licensed vehicles could enter, which was in line with international standards."
At the same time, the flexible traffic control mode that has been tried out will continue to be used during the Olympic Games. It connects the original camera with the newly added camera, so that athletes, technical officials and media reporters can track in all directions as soon as they leave the station, temporarily control according to the traffic volume, and adjust the control of some roads at any time. Once congestion occurs, different diversion measures can be taken in different places to ensure smooth roads.
With the help of this monitoring system and operation mode, only 30 traffic policemen are needed on the road with a total length of about 9 kilometers, and the normal driving of other vehicles will not be greatly restricted.
Safe and orderly evacuation
In terms of Olympic transportation research, Beijing University of Technology hosted a large-scale Olympic transportation planning research project for the first time to guide the entire Beijing transportation. Later, they participated in the traffic forecast of various venues and nearby roads, so that designers could design facilities to meet the needs of venue size and location. Later, he presided over the Olympic traffic simulation project, used software to simulate the model of pedestrians (mainly in venues) entering and leaving, and estimated whether the surrounding facilities could meet the normal traffic flow, which was mainly used for pedestrian traffic organization and audience evacuation of the Olympic Games.
During the Olympic Games, in addition to meeting the transportation needs of the competition-related personnel, the transportation needs of the audience are also a difficult point that must be overcome, especially when the crowd is most concentrated after the game, the audience must be evacuated in time and safely. It is estimated that the ninth day of the Olympic Games will be the peak day, with a total audience of 364,000 in Beijing, and the most concentrated evacuation time will be from 22: 00 to 22: 30. Experts will take a series of measures to reduce the pressure during peak hours, such as arranging some activities during the rest time, designing some circuitous routes and extending the circuitous time of rest, thus reducing the pressure on entrances and exits, bus stops and subway entrances.
Emergency plan is indispensable.
If there is an emergency during the Olympic Games, the corresponding emergency plan research is the focus of Professor Yang. For any emergencies such as fire and explosion, it is impossible to wait until after the occurrence to discuss countermeasures, which is an important reason for the plan.
9. After11,the world began to pay attention to terrorist attacks. After SARS in 2003, the State Council began to make emergency plans for various situations. In recent years, earthquakes, snowstorms, tsunamis, rainstorms and other climatic emergencies have attracted more and more attention.
The research group mainly refers to the emergency mechanism and evacuation plan of the United States, and also fully considers the differences in reality. The car ownership rate in America is very high. In the event of a crisis, the sudden traffic volume will soar to three or five times or even 10 times, and it is more necessary to organize traffic. Different from China, they finally decided that during the Olympic Games, 60%~65% of them would be evacuated by bus in an organized way.
According to the severity, emergencies are divided into four categories: particularly significant, significant, significant and general. /kloc-every day of the 0/7-day Olympic Games is different, and the number of athletes and spectators in the Olympic Village is also different, especially the opening and closing ceremonies. Therefore, they also set up nine different scenes on different dates or time periods for the Olympic Games, designed dozens of different emergency plans, and simulated the plans one by one through the simulation system to test the reaction time, and evaluated a plan from the aspects of evacuation time, safety and implementation cost, so as to realize the rational allocation of resources.
"The emergency plan covers a wide range. It can even be said that from the perspective of emergency, traffic is only a part of it. When we build the whole system, we will not consider transportation more. " For example, when designing the scheme, we should consider the geographical location of the Olympic venues, medical aid, basic living facilities and other resources, as well as the configuration of facilities along the line and the setting of temporary and permanent shelters. In addition, these facilities should basically ensure smooth traffic, survival needs (water and food, medical facilities) and smooth communication.
The topic of emergency response and emergency traffic evacuation continues. Professor Yang hopes to include all cities, especially big cities. Because in the event of natural disasters such as earthquakes, it is very difficult to evacuate safely in densely populated areas. Even if the disaster was not serious, the panic of the crowd at that time was enough to defeat a city, not to mention countless investments afterwards.
Professor Yang also stressed that the role of training, exercise and daily publicity should not be underestimated. Although the cost may be high, the effect may not be real. "What we lack most now is that we can't make the incident real, and the atmosphere of emergencies is difficult to create." . Moreover, people are not rational enough in panic, so we should give people simple and easy guidance before, during and after the crisis.
It's a long way to go.
Through his own research and experience for more than 20 years, Professor Yang deeply felt that the Olympic Games had changed many people's ideas. He always believes that from the perspective of urban planning, policy makers in the past paid little attention to traffic, and from the perspective of professional management, Beijing's traffic management ability has been weak, but through the rare opportunity of the Olympic Games, the importance of traffic has gradually strengthened, and now the keyword "traffic" appears more and more frequently in TV, newspapers, magazines, internet and other media.
More importantly, Olympic traffic management has improved Beijing's traffic management ability, and people are beginning to realize the importance of management. "We are also taking this rare opportunity of the Olympic Games to explore what is a suitable mode of transportation for Beijing and China. Maybe all we need is time. "
skill
The birthplace of BRT
Bus rapid transit system is suitable for both small cities and megacities. It originated in Curitiba, Brazil in 1970s. As a city in a developing country, facing the serious traffic congestion caused by the rapid growth of urban population and private cars, there is not enough money to build rail transit. Therefore, under the leadership of Jamie Lerner, the former mayor, a famous architect and the father of BRT, designers boldly developed and implemented a new public transportation mode, and built BRT with the characteristics of rail transit operation at a cost of only110, making it possible for Curitiba to travel by bus.