The Beijing Transportation Bureau releases a proposal on the integration of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei transportation on July 13. Four highlights were included in the proposal.

Firstly, "Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei on rail" will become the core of transportation in all the three places. The system have four levels of networks – the arterial railway lines, intercity railway lines, suburban railway lines, and urban rail transportation, according to Zhou Zhengyu, director of the Beijing Transportation Bureau.

The connections within the system will solve regional transportation problems in the three areas, added Zhou.

The demonstrative suburban railway line between Beijing and the suburb of Pinggu will be promoted rapidly this year. Some existing railway lines have already been turned into suburban lines, including the S2 Railway Line between Beijing North Station and Yanqing, a suburb of Beijing.

The cities in the region will be mainly connected by intercity railway lines and national railway lines, said Zhou. The main body of the Beijing Railway Network will consist of 1,000 kilometers of subway lines and another 1,000 kilometers of suburban railways.

Second, the accessibility of roads will be a major mission. Three highways have attracted the attentions of the Transportation Bureau and the National Development and Reform Commission.

The three highways are the G1N Highway between Beijing and Qihuangdao in Hebei, the G3 Highway connecting Beijing and Taipei in Taiwan, and the loop line connecting Miyun county in suburban Beijing and Tunzhou in Hebei.

The Beijing part of the G3 Highway was launched in 2014. Therefore,the remaining two highways are real one-end roads, which are expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

Third, the three areas will launch unified transportation cards by the end of 2017. With the card, people will be able to travel on buses and subways in all the three places. Hebei cities such as Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Zhangjiakou, and Langfang will be included in the first unified transportation card pilot areas.

Fourth, obstacles to integrated development will be eliminated by new mechanisms. Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei created a coordinated team to manage integrated transportation development. A memo on the industry has been signed by the three parties.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Railway Investment Corporation was founded to finance the project. The stock equity has been divided into three parts. Moreover, the corporation does not have controlled shareholders, reflecting the ideas of equality, cooperation, and integration.

The three parties will develop a market-oriented operation and management mechanism. The government will further simplify the administrative process to Facilitate transportation integration.

The policies should be integrated by breaking up the geographic obstacles, said Zhou. Zhou gave the example that in order to realize the unified transportation card, different public transportation subsidiaries must be coordinated.