Infographics: Beijing expands transportation networks

Beijing absorbs 600,000 additional inhabitants each year, an influx that gradually worsens Beijingers’ commuting conditions. Confronting the major urban issue of everyday mobility, the authorities are undertaking many transportation infrastructure projects on a large scale.

Two interactive graphics present the different stages of the city’s expansion. One shows the construction of the six ring roads and the plan for the seventh, due to start in 2015 and which will link Beijing with Tianjin and the nearby cities in Hebei. The other graphic shows the gradual opening of 526.27 km of metro lines, catapulting the Beijing subway to second rank as one of the most important metropolitan networks in terms of mileage, right behind Shanghai.