China's Urban Transportation System
China is the most populous country in the world. With a population of 1.3 billion, meeting the housing and transportation needs of this vast country are on the forefront of the political and academic agenda in China and throughout the world. China has
experienced phenomenal economic and social growth and as a result the Chinese have
desired more mobility and living space. The effects of these desires are beginning to be
seen in new auto oriented ex-urban developments that have larger living spaces than the traditional urban centers and whose road infrastructure is developed to support high autouse. This results in spatially separated land uses and lower accessibility of goods and services, especially as road demand overruns supply and the transportation network becomes congested. Additionally, urban air pollution will continue to rise as
transportation mode shifts from transit and non-motorized modes to the personal
automobile. Some countries and cities throughout the world have established effective
constraints against unsustainable levels of personal automobile use. A variety of
measures have been used including: land use controls, competitive alternatives, user fees, high auto ownership fees, and rationing. These controls have been very effective in other developed Asian cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo and many of these tools could be transferred to China. This paper will investigate the rising motorization rate in China and identify some cities that have taken approaches that could potentially alleviate some of the transportation problems in the cities.
China’s motorization rate has grown in accordance with other rapidly developing countries, but because of China’s high population, the impacts of motorization are potentially more severe. Figure 1 shows the exponential increase in personal automobile ownership rates. Currently, there are about seven personal automobiles per 1000 people, compared to over 700 vehicles per 1000 people in industrialized nations like the United States. This figure does not include privately owned trucks or publicly owned vehicles
(including buses and trucks), which increases the number of automobiles to about 28 vehicles per 1000 people. If China were to achieve motorization rates comparable to those of developed countries, the environmental and economic consequences could be
disastrous. By 2020, the total automobile fleet (not including motorcycles) is expected to grow by between three and seven times the current size depending on economic growth rates (NRC 2003).
The Rising Motorization of China
The population distribution of China is diverse, with the majority of the population (60%)
living in rural areas. However, in the past several decades, the improved economic
situation of the cities has caused a rapid urban in-migration. This trend has resulted in a
nearly three-fold increase in urban development and density in the last decade as
displayed in Figure 2. Much of this development is not necessarily representative of
sustainable transit and pedestrian oriented growth. Although this new development is
very dense, low land cost at the periphery cause developers to build spatially separated
housing and commercial developments with few transit connections to the urban center
(Gaukenheimer 1996).
As incomes increase, people desire more living space, which reduces density and encourages
expansion at the urban fringe. Figure 3 shows the growth of residential floor space per capita, which is a force toward lower density. This requires more auto oriented transportation infrastructure as well as more land for development. In Shanghai, approximately 10% of the land area is devoted to transportation infrastructure (compared to 20-25% in Europe) (Shen 1997).
Because of the built environment, most of the new transportation infrastructure is expanding at the periphery, encouraging auto oriented
developments. An increasingly open housing market, where people choose where to live
is also creating a spatial jobs-housing imbalance that did not previously exist, when
industry provided housing for its employees adjacent to their plants. This greatly
increases the cost of transportation for Chinese households as indicated by Figure 4. The
proportion of a households income spent on transportation has increases ten fold in less
than 15 years.
Institutional Structure
Urban Transport Issues in China
Rapidly increasing transport demand due to rapid economic growth, urbanization, and motorization
Most large cities fail to manage the motorization process
There are no clear winners while the poor are suffering the most
Public bus transport is at a fragile point
Financial capacity to develop a rail-based mass transit system is limited in most cities
Spillover effects are threatening the overall sustainability while travel mobility is declining
Motorization process should be carefully managed
Urban planning has failed to meet the needs of rapid economic and urbanization development
Lack of Coordination Land use transportation 
Inadequate facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians
Road accidents are increasing in numbers and severity
Lack of Traffic management
Lack of coordination among fragmented institutions 
Increasing financial mechanisms and resources
Proposed Actions
Redefine the role of the national government in urban transport to enhance coordination and risk management
Develop accountability mechanisms and a strengthened local governance structure for urban transport
Build up the institutional capacity for strategic planning, as a basis for effective coordination
Establish the linkage between urban transport planning and financing, to enhance coordination and accountability
Develop a sustainable and transparent financing mechanism, as a foundation for financial risk management
Develop a viable public transport industry as a center piece of urban transport services for inclusive development 

Qingdao (Tsingtao)
"Red-tiled roofs amongst greenery, the azure sky above the blue sea" used to be the highlights of Qingdao , appealing to both Chinese and foreign tourists in the last century. Today Qingdao has been put in the spotlight as the host city of the 29th Sailing Regatta in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. "Qingdao, The Sailing City" symbolizes the new horizon of Qingdao which aims at attracting more visitors from around the world.
  
To visitors from both China and around the world, Qingdao is known as China’s "Little Switzerland," because the city boasts unique characteristics not found in other Chinese cities. These envied traits include amazing fine-sand beaches, European style architecture, and most significantly, clean air. Qingdao is far and away one of the cleanest cities in China.
 
Qingdao lies between mountains and the sea, maintains a well-placed coastal port with clear deep waters, and enjoys a very comfortable climate. The mountains provide a collection of interesting sights centered around the mystical Mt. Laoshan, an important Taoist historical location featuring the highest peak along the Chinese coast. Meanwhile the sea provides relaxation, gentle waves, bared rocks, and some golden beaches forming arguably China’s best northern beach resort. All of these unique physical features produce a fabulous landscape surrounding the city. The historical culture, variety of religion, civil traditions, village customs, and holiday celebrations all add to Qingdao’s rich culture.

Qingdao, Transportation
Qingdao has a complete transportation system. Public transportation in Qingdao is efficient and convenient. Residents and visitors alike have numerous options when it comes to navigating the city and heading for other destinations around China. Every means of transportation in Qingdao allows for a surprisingly joyful & pleasant experience. Most of the roads in the old urban areas are narrow and winding unlike the noisy, wide thoroughfares in other major cities. As in any big city in China, it’s always advisable to avoid traveling during rush hours (7:00-8:30am and 5:00-6:30pm).

Railway
Qingdao Railway Station provides frequent connections to regions throughout China with direct routes to Beijing, Jinan, Weihai, and Yantai. There are 50 train routes in operation to and from Qingdao Railway Station. A high speed train connecting Jinan, Qingdao, Beijing, and Guangzhou has been recently completed, and can cut travel time in half compared to the standard trains.   
Roads & Highways
Qingdao’s road network stretches over 5,935 kilometers including 9 expressways totaling 525 kilometers. Main highways are the Jinan-Qingdao Expressway, the Jiaozhou-Bay Expressway, and the Qingdao-Yinchuan Expressway. As a vice-provincial city, Qingdao ranks first in terms of expressway mileage in China
Buses & Trolleys
Qingdao's public traffic owns about 4,500 large and medium-sized diesel buses, CNG buses and trolleybuses, operating more than 200 routes and carrying almost 1,900,000 passengers per day in the city. The city bus fares range from 1 RMB (non air-con) to 2 RMB (air-coned). Fortunately, Qingdao also offers bus services which run along the seaside; take a double decker and enjoy the picturesque scenery along the route or hop off at any stop as soon as you notice something that requires more exploration. 
Texis
One great aspect of Qingdao taxi transport is the lack of constant traffic jams unlike other major urban centers such as Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou. Qingdao is not only famous for its charming natural scenery, but also for the large numbers of taxis and possibly the cheapest taxi flag fall in similar cities at 1.20 RMB per kilometer with a base price of 7 RMB. It is about 50 RMB from the airport to most of the downtown hotels by taxi, and generally about 10-20 RMB from one urban locale to another.
 In view that most of the taxis have served for quite a few years, the administrative governors lately announced the plan to replace 6,756 vehicles (total around 8,000) with higher standards so that to offer passengers a more comfortable and safer experience with a better emission control. It’s scheduled to commence in September 2006 and to end in 2008. The officials said that the tariff of the will remain the same but subject to the surcharge of fuel oil.

Taxi Tariff:
1) Daytime 5:00 - 22:00
   a. Base price (for the first 3km): 7 RMB
   b. Unit price per km: 1.20 RMB/km for the first 6km, 1.80 RMB/km for 6km+
2) Night 22:00 - 5:00
   a. Base price (for the first 2km): RMB7.00
   b. Unit price per km: 1.60 RMB/km for the first 6km, 2.20 RMB/km for 6km+
* There are a small number of luxury taxis with base price of 10.00 RMB and a unit price of 1.70 RMB/km.
Ferry
Besides a few ferry routes between Qingdao and its surrounding islands, Huangdao () and Xuejiadao(), you can also go to Shanghai by the seasonal (summer) ferry. Besides these domestic routes, Qingdao’s Ferries also offer direct international service to Incheon, Korea (a major South Korean seaport near Seoul) and Shimonoseki, Japan (on the western tip of the main island of Honshu). The ferry to Incheon takes 19 hours and it’s a 28 hour journey from Qingdao to Shimonoseki.
Airport
Qingdao’s Liuting International Airport is located 32 km from the downtown and currently offers flights to 19 international destinations and plenty of domestic routes, totaling over 300 flights per week. There are direct international flights to Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Seoul, Pusan, Taegu, Paris (via Shanghai), Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Macao with a new route to Frankfurt set to open soon. There are more than 800 domestic flights per week, directly linking Qingdao with 47 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and many more.
To adapt to rapid economic development, the local government has been endeavoring to create a complete transport infrastructure including metro, light rail and viaducts alongside the current transport facilities. The grand cross-sea bridge, which will become China’s 2nd longest bridge, will cost 10 billion RMB to build, making it the most expensive construction project in Qingdao’s history. The bridge will connect Qingdao with Huangdao (the economic & high-tech development zones). Besides the bridge, a plan to construct an undersea tunnel linking Tuandao (), the western tip of the city, and Xuejiadao (the southern part of Huangdao) is also in the works. A recent announcement reports that a new railway station will be established in the northern part of the city and the old (main) railway station will be expanded and renewed. However, while these projects are quite impressive, financing them will be quite a challenge for the local government.
Future Transportation in Qingdao
Achievements
Formed a three-dimensional traffic network with four horizontal planes
Rehabilitated over thousands local roads 
Completed metro study, road accident study
Initiated road network improvement, public transport network improvement and parking studies
Completed development of motor vehicle emission control strategy 
Change in attitudes away from just new road construction toward more comprehensive interventions 
Future actions
Implement motor vehicle emission control strategy, including public communication program
Initiate a single ongoing, comprehensive, multi-modal planning process  incorporating all transportation modes 
        (Strong, formal link to land-use/master planning/ Strong, formal link to capital budget development process/ 
         Rational and objective,  creating sound technical basis for investment decision-making )
Initiate a study of transport financing alternatives, addressing all potential sources for a stable, predictable finance stream 
Peer reviews and discussions with other Chinese cities on key technical and policy issues, e.g., BRT, traffic and parking management
Training of traffic police in traffic management and transit priority enforcement