1. Shanghai Morning Post:  Today, some media reported that local experts have proposed three suggestions to relieve traffic jams: prohibiting driver-only vehicles on the elevated ways, levying charges for vehicles on certain traffic areas and adopting a flexible work hour scheme.  Will the municipal government adopt these suggestions? Also, Mayor Han Zheng has said Shanghai will take short-term, mid-term and long-term measures to tackle traffic congestion.  Measures published today are for the short term.  Can you inform on the mid-term and long-term policies and plans?

Jiao Yang:  At the August 4 press conference, I outlined Shanghai's traffic goals and plans from now to 2010 as well as the 45 tasks for this year and next year to tackle the traffic problems.  The information can be accessed on the government website (www.sh.gov.cn) and Eastday (www.eastday.com.cn).

Xiong Jianping: Charges on drivers is a kind of control, the same as the auto license plate auction.  But it's very difficult to apply.  We need follow-up policies as in how to control the areas where the charge is to be imposed.  The rate of the charge is another concern.  If it is too low, it won't be effective; and if too high, it may lead to traffic volume increases in other areas.  We are doing research in this area and will take various factors into account.

Flexible work hours is a good method to alleviate peak traffic periods.  It's particularly effective for areas that will encounter huge traffic in rush hours.  In Shanghai, the elevated roads are already near full capacity in daytime.  But we need more research before deciding whether to adopt the work hour plan because it affects many areas of society.  We are trying to improve the plan put forward by the experts.

Zhu Weiming:  Traffic jams are frequent for elevated roads, which seem to be the preference of every driver.  Generally speaking, the roads are convenient for journeys of a medium-to-long distance because they are free of traffic lights, pedestrians and bicycles. 
We must strengthen traffic management.  As far as I know, there are five to six control methods other than the ban on driver-only cars.  But we have not yet decided on these methods.
The management of elevated roads must be approached based on two concerns: First, we mustn't affect most drivers' benefits;
second, we must make a balance between traffic volumes on the elevated roads and on the ground roads.  As for the ban on driver-only autos from the elevated roads, the traffic authority has not yet taken it into consideration.  I think the current measures on the roads during the peak hours are short term, and other measures are necessary.

2. Xinmin Evening News:  Dean Xiong has explained the Shanghai Municipal Government's newly released 18 traffic measures.  Then what further actions will you take? Which of the 18 measures are difficult to carry out?  And how should the local people cooperate with the plan?

Xiong: I've said we will deal with five tasks and 18 measures.  The 18 measures fall in three areas:
First, we will reinforce the management, particularly of people, stands and vehicles that impede the traffic.  The improvement should appear around the year's end;
Second, we will clear up those things that are slowing the traffic, such as the unclear traffic signs.  The low efficiency of the traffic administration is blamed for the local road networks' low efficiency, as research data indicated the traffic efficiency has been cut by half.  In this sense, if every passenger strictly abides by the traffic rules, efficiency of the road networks will significantly improve.

Zhu Weiming:  Let me add one point: it's very crucial to abide by the traffic rules.  Let me show you two figures in Shanghai.  Every month the traffic police record more than 500,000 traffic violations while the e-traffic system scans more than 30,000.  Only one out of ten violators reported by the police are handled because most violation occur when people are walking or driving.  This means traffic rule violations involve mostly the pedestrians.  It is not necessarily because the local people don't care, but because the entire society's traffic rule awareness is low.  So, I believe it's very important to form a good social environment with more traffic rule promotion and education.  And I advocate that people of all trades, including the media, join us in the campaign.

3. Phoenix TV:  How is the construction of the rail transport system progressing?  The famous entrepreneur Wang Junyao is receiving medical treatment in Shanghai.  How is his physical condition?

Jiao Yang:  I'm not very clear about Wang Junyao's physical condition.  If need be, I may get more information for you from the health department.

Xiong Jianping: Shanghai has the following characteristics in rail transport construction compared with other international metropolises.
First, we have more people but fewer land resources.  The downtown area of Shanghai is more than 600 square kilometers, or about 80 square meters per capita.  In comparison, the minimum international average is 100 square meters.  In cities like New York, the per-capita space is 150-200 square meters.
Second, We have a larger population but fewer roads.  The per-capita road area is only 4.5 square meters in the downtown area and 9 square meters citywide.  The road-to-land area rate is about 7 percent, while the world's average is 20 percent.
Therefore, public traffic development, particularly large-capacity rail traffic, is of top priority for Shanghai's traffic development.  Our goal by 2010 is an average ride in the downtown area of under an hour, and for rail transport to rise from the current 10 percent to over 40 percent of the city's total traffic.

4.The Economic Observer:Would the rise in retail price of liquefied petroleum gas be the beginning of the rise in other public utilities fees?  What's the impact on the city's commodity price?

Jiao Yang:  The second question needs adequate authority analysis and forecast. So I cannot answer it now.  As it's reported, the local price hike in LPG is a result of the rise in price of crude oil and LPG globally.   The domestic gas suppliers have rose the price from 3,000 yuan (US$ 363) per ton at the beginning of this year to 4,700 yuan early this October, the imported LPG (used by vehicles mainly) price even exceeding 5,000 yuan per ton.   During this period of time, the local gas manufacturers have conquered many difficulties to ensure a well-balanced market supply.

From August 2002, to further maintain the market order and guarantee the rights and interests of the gas operators and consumers, Shanghai has been practicing a regulation that the LPG retail price and floating range of the price would be published by the price administration departments every quarter, according to the variety of gas price offered by the suppliers.  The latest price variety was published on November 8.

5.Jie Fang Daily:According to Director Xiong Jianping, the extension of RT No.1 would open to the public by the end of this year.  However, Shanghai Metro Operation Co. Ltd worries a lot about the huge customer flow in the Shanghai Railway Station.   Has the government considered about that?  It's said there would be a united taxi call service.  Can I know the process of the joint work of this service system with the five existing dispatch centers.

Bian Baiping:Thank you. The northern extension of RT No. 1 is expected to open for trial operation by the end of year.  We try best to control the interval between two trains within 9 mins or 12 mins, if not cooperating well with the surface trains.  The huge customer flow, along with the arrangements of the entries and exits, in the Shanghai Railway Station is also under our concern.

To tackle the taxi woes in Shanghai, the city hopes to get unoccupied taxis off the street by changing the way people hail cabs.  The united taxi call service is organized by Dazhong, Johnson and Bus. By the end of the year, the service will be connected to 4,000 local cabs, and to all 43,000 by 2007.  The idea is that empty taxis will wait in 350 designated areas for a call instead of cruising streets looking for customers, which clogs traffic.  Currently, an average of 45 percent of taxis on the street at any one time aren't carrying a passenger, which is very uneconomical in terms of the pollution they cause to the environment and a waste of limited traffic resources. Instead of flagging down a cab on the side of the street, commuters will be able to call for a taxi, which will be dispatched from the nearest waiting spot. People will also be able to press a button at any flag-down point and the call center will inform a taxi at the nearest waiting harbor to take the business. It will only take a couple of minutes.  Downtown shanghai will soon have at least one cab waiting harbor and one flag-down point every 500 to 800 meters of every street.

6.STV News Channel:Does the government set any regulations to improve the city's public transport network?  We learnt from the associated press yesterday that the charge window on the way leaving Hong Qiao Airport and onto Yan'an Highway would be cancelled.  Can you tell me the process of this issue and confirm if there's a lawsuit involved in it.

Xiong Jianping:There are four targets in the improvement of the city's public transport network:to ensure a basic smooth on the highways; to ensure a well order on the main roads; to realize public car priority; and to relieve road blocks.

Yang Peitian:The charge window you mentioned is a historical problem since the completion of Yan'an Highway.  To ensure the traffic smooth, the government has cancelled several charge windows on bridges and in tunnels and a city road construction fee has been added to per car.  As for the issue  that keep it or not, it's still under discussion.

7.Nikkei Japan:How are the nine North Koreans who trespassed into the American School on September 30?

Jiao Yang:I may inform you about this issue on the reference from the related departments.

8.I Time:What kind of special driveways will you set for the public cars priority as Director Xiong explained just now?  What will you do to ensure their smooth?  Will the colored driveways be popularized in Shanghai?

Yang Peitian:It's an efficient way to set aside special driveways for the public cars.   Limited by the width of the streets, the special driveways would mainly be on some trunks.  Despite this, the huge amount of non-motor vehicles needs a better riding environment.  The Changning Government is having a trial operation in the colored driveways on Xinhua Rd only.  The paint for this 250-meter-long way is supported for free by an American company.  The municipal experts haven't evaluated on this issue.  But, we don't refuse advanced establishments and techniques to be used in the city's construction.

9. Xinwen Wubao (News Times): It is said that local taxi companies may increase fares to offset gas prices. Since gas prices fluctuate continually, will the taxi fare increase be temporary? Secondly, cars whose license plates begin with "C" were once denied access to downtown areas. This regulation is now relaxed in practice, especially after the enactment of the new traffic laws. Will the government consider a change in the policy?

Bian Baiping: Taxi fare increase is a hot topic these days. Soaring pertrol prices have increased the average running cost of a local taxi by more than 20 yuan (US$2.4) per day, or 600 yuan(US$73) per month. The operating costs of taxis running on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) also has gone up because the price of LPG has risen by 0.4 yuan (US$0.05) per liter. The government will take the fuel price hikes into account when settinig new criteria for fares. The criteria are yet to be released and a release date is still uncertain.

Zhu Weiming: In answer to your second question, the present regulation will remain valid. Since license plates begining with "C" were originally sold to suburban residents, cars with these plates are not allowed inside the outer ring road. Traffic signs are displayed along the highways to designate where you can go with a license plate. We have noticed that some car owners disobey the regulation and we will severely punish these offenders.

10. Wenhui Daily: My questions concern ordinary people's lives. You have mentioned that the government will impose nine measures to improve the traffic flow by the end of this Spring Festival. What are these measures? Where will the government create bus lanes? Secondly, you have mentioned that a taxi call service will be connected to 4,000 local cabs by the end of this year. Although the new system will help reduce the waste of limited traffic resources, I doubt whether it can work efficiently. According to the plan, taxis will be only available at designated areas. Since it takes time to walk to these places, local residents will be reluctant to obey this rule. The flag-down points that have already been set up in the city are not being fully utilized yet and some call buttons have broken down. Besides, during the holidays and rainy days, taxis are always in great demand and people can hardly get a cab by the hotline because it is always busy. The last question: Currently local cabbies bear the extra costs of fuel price hikes and it is a hard burdern on them. Many people think local traffic costs are high. What's your opinion?

Bian Baiping: I'll answer your last two questions. It's unfair to ask cabbies to bear all the extra costs. The costs should be shared among cabbies, taxi companies and commuters. We will draw up a reasonable scheme. As to the taxi call service, it will take time to improve this system. Although local taxi companies like Dazhong, Qiangsheng and Bashi have had their own taxi call systems, these systems are not centralized. Most taxis are still cruising streets looking for customers. We plan to connect all of the city's 43,000 cabs to an integrated network by 2007.

Zhu Weiming: In answer to your first question, the city will create more one-way streets to ease traffic congestion. At present, 12 percent, or 388, of all the streets in the downtown areas are one-way streets. Two factors must be taken into account before we decide where to create one-way streets. First, the city's road network is intricate. Second, the city has more than 10 million non-motor vehicles. Besides, if conditions permit, we should create more reversible lanes, which are another kind of one-way street. The city's first reversible lanes have already been created in Siping Road.

11. Shanghai Radio Station: A new type of electronic billboards which offer real-time traffic information from the local traffic control center have appeared on the local streets. They are welcomed by local drivers. Will the local authorities set up more billboards along the streets?

Xiong Jianping: We plan to add eight traffic billboards along Yan'an elevated road and the North-south Elevated Road this year. We will try our best to inform the drivers of the latest traffic information.