I've got a (cheap) ticket to ride...

Any vehement quibbling about America's swelling traffic problem invariably segues into some argument against overpopulation and, to greater extent, how one bypasses all that nasty congestion. If you're thinking certain city engineers should take a defibrillator or three to our woeful nationwide public transportation problem, you're right. Thankfully, Beijing, China, just cranked out a prototype not only worthy of worldwide acclaim, but of being called an antidote to a planet that refuses to slow down.

The October 7 grand opening of Beijing's $1.45 billion Line 5 underground subway network falls just ten months before the capital hosts the 2008 Olympics, and serves to streamline travel during the highly anticipated summer games. But the railway line alleviates a much more pressing burden - a city so thronged to the gills it had to designate a "No Car Day" two months ago to combat rising air pollution, according to a Washington Post article. The metropolis itself is beleaguered with a population that rivals the entire state of Florida (approximately 17 million), so a cost-efficient subway promises a smoother transition come the flood rush of tourists next summer.

Yes, I said cost-efficient. Beijing slashed fares to roughly 27 cents per-commuter per-ride, so the whole shebang costs around the price of a pack of bubble gum. The powerful 27.3 km rail line not only outclasses any form of Western transportation, but packs an impressive medley of LCD-panel ticket centers, information terminals, air conditioning, handicapped accessibility, onboard flatscreen televisions and a ubiquitous wireless surveillance system monitoring platform and subway car traffic.

Here's a brief 360-degree panorama around the interior of one passenger car:



That's not all, fellow flummoxed college commuters. The Beijing Subway line plans to overhaul its entire public transportation system by 2020 - which includes jacking up the number of public transportation users from 30 to 40 percent by 2010. City officials are shooting for the largest subway network in the world at a projected 561 km - larger than the London Underground - to justify thrusting railway lines into every conceivable part of the clogged and overwhelmed city. And that's including the newly-constructed Olympic Park - the bustling centerpiece for all Olympic-related activities.

Since Beijing's facelift coincides with Olympic preparations, arguably equally congested cities might use that kind of an incentive to revamp their own ailing public transportation infrastructure. Heck, the Second Avenue subway line in New York City has been a project bubbling since the Roaring Twenties, but constantly derailed ever since, according to a New York Magazine article.

Does it really take a bid to host the Olympics to spur traffic reform in America's most gridlocked cities? Paging the 2020 Olympics...

Images courtesy www.Treehugger.com