City strengthens transportation for CIIE
Volunteers guide visitors at East Xujing Station on Metro Line 2 on Tuesday during a drill for the second CIIE.
Additional bus services, electric taxis and more frequent subway trains will serve visitors to the second China International Import Expo (CIIE), along with newly built roads and bridges.
The first CIIE in 2018 attracted a total of 800,000 visitors to the National Exhibition and Convention Center, especially during public open days.
This year’s event is expected to attract even more people as the Country Exhibition area, featuring pavilions from over 60 countries and international organizations, will open free to the public from November 13 to 20 after the expo ends.
To serve visitors, the city’s transport authority has increased the capacity of subway lines, taxis, buses and parking garages around the exhibition center.
Metro Line 2, with its terminal stop at East Xujing Station being the closest to the CIIE venue, will increase capacity on its western section to better serve visitors. The station has also been upgraded, with exits 4 and 5 opening for the convenience of visitors.
Multiple public, shuttle and emergency bus lines will operate around the site. The No. 71 bus will extend operation hours during the expo. A new extension of the bus line will be opened to reach the T2 terminal of the Hongqiao airport.
About 1,500 electric taxis will be deployed to serve the expo. Additional taxi stands have been arranged in the east, west and north of the exhibition center.
Eight specialized bus lines will cover 50 hotels downtown. Another free shuttle bus will connect the Pudong airport with the P1 parking garage of the center.
A total of 17 parking sites have been arranged, five more than the first expo, to serve locals who will drive to the venue. The garages offer a total of 7,000 parking spaces for passenger vehicles and 1,100 for large buses.
The Shanghai Transport Commission is also upgrading its mobile app to include directions to areas within the exhibition center, parking garages and service stations. Three-dimensional directions on the roads around the center will be available via the new app. It will be officially launched by late October in trial operations.
Moreover, six new road and bridge projects will be completed by the end of October to make it more convenient to reach the CIIE venue in Qingpu District.
These include the Beidi Road Tunnel which will complete its main tunnel structure in October, and a pedestrian and cyclist bridge on Songze Avenue near the center which will be finished later this month.
Greenery and facility preparations on the city’s elevated roads are also near completion. Clearer directions and new signage will better lead drivers to the expo venue.
