THEY have no fancy nicknames and are not the object of adulation by architects worldwide.
But the less glamorous aspect of Beijing's Olympic legacy a massive 178.2 billion yuan (S$35.7 billion) upgrade of its transport facilities and network may yet prove to be more far-reaching in impact than the iconic stadiums like the 'Bird's Nest' or the 'Water Cube'.
The new highways, subways, bus lanes, and high-speed trains many of them coming online within weeks of each other last month ? finally bring a touch of modern public transportation to the sprawling metropolis, which was historically built with the emperor rather than the common people in mind.
The heart of this upgrade is the expanding spiderweb of subway lines. When Beijing won the bid to host the 29th Summer Olympiad in 2001, the city had merely two subway lines built in the 1960s.
Beijing has since added six more subway lines, including one to the airport and another to the main Olympics venue.
This means a five-fold increase in the length of the subway tracks, from the initial 42km to the current 200km.
The reach of the subwayn etworks would be more than doubled by 2020, reaching 561.5km.
The transport authorities also opened two new express bus lanes last month that would connect passengers more efficiently to the expanded subway network.
There are plans to increase the number of buses from the current 14,000 to 21,000 in 2010.
Residents of Beijing have generally welcomed the hardware upgrade. But many complain that service, or the lack of it, remains the Achilles? heel of the city?s transport network.
"Taking the bus or subway is a miserable experience in Beijing," said IT engineer Li Hongkai, 34. "You have to endure the traffic jams, the crowds, the poor air-conditioning, and the bad driving of rude bus drivers."
Although much of the capital city's public transport network was upgraded for the Olympics, some passengers complain they are being forced off their regular subway or bus rides precisely because of the upcoming Games.
The government has ordered half the city's cars off the roads in a last-ditch attempt at improving the air quality.
The result is massive crowds at certain subway and bus stations.
Ms Wang Hongmei complains that she is now practically late for work every day.She has resorted to taking, ironically, old buses which have no air-conditioning.
"The old buses are unbearably hot. But people say the new ones have been roped in for the Olympics," she said.
Others are more hopeful. Teacher Hong Hu said it would inevitably take more time for service standards to improve, adding: "Let's give them a chance."
But like many in Beijing, Mr Li argues that improving the city's public transport needs one more vital ingredient population control.
Beijing wants to cap its population at 18 million by 2020, though observers suspect that the city has already breached that figure with its massive migrant population.
'The new subway lines just can't keep up with the rate of population increase," said Mr Li. "When you take the subway, you find it getting more crowded each year."
This article was first published in the Straits Times on August 4th 2008.
