Xiamen developing green public transport

The city of Xiamen in Fujian province is developing its green public transport to save energy, reduce emissions, and protect the environment, Xiamen Daily reported on Aug 10.

As part of its efforts, in the past month Xiamen introduced 501 new energy buses for use across 12 city routes. A total of 218 of those buses are totally electric, creating zero emissions. New energy buses are not new to Xiamen, the city first introducing them a decade ago before they really started catching on in 2011.

In the past five years, more clean and new energy buses have been put into service at a rate of 500 to 600 buses per year. The city's new energy buses are expected to account for 54.17 percent of its total fleet by the end of the year.

Xiamen's taxi industry has also experienced rapid change, upgrading from standard gasoline taxis, to those using hybrid fuel and others that are now totally electric.

Pure electric taxis first came into service this year, gaining popularity due to their affordable running costs, in addition to producing no emissions.

Xiamen will establish more charging piles to ensure the successful operation of its electric vehicles. As of mid-July, Xiamen Public Transport Group has established 478 charging piles, 248 of which are for buses and 230 for taxis. Another 143 bus charging piles are under construction.