Beijing to put clean energy bus fleet on the road by 2017

All buses running inside Beijing's fifth ring road will likely adopt clean energy by the end of 2017 to reduce pollution in the city, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport said on Friday.

The number of buses using clean energy in Beijing has exceeded 6,200, accounting for one-third of all buses in Beijing, said Rong Jun, a senior official of Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport.

To reduce emissions, Beijing will put more vehicles into service that use pollution-free energy such as electricity in the next few years, according to the commission.

It is predicted that 48 percent of people in Beijing will choose public transport including buses and subway as a means of transportation by the end of this year, compared to 38.9 percent in 2009, Rong said.

The total number of bus routes in Beijing reached 1,200 in the first half of the year, and the subway network reached 465 kilometers, according to the commission.