Midnight revelers will have a wider choice of public transport during the 2008 Olympic Games as Beijing is to launch special bus routes and add seven routes to the 24-hour bus network.

Thirty-four bus routes would be arranged to relieve possible transport pressure around venues and tourist sites during the Games, said Liu Xiaoming, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission, on Thursday.

The host city would add seven additional night bus routes besides the current 12, Liu said.

"A round-the-clock public transportation system during the Beijing Olympic Games will be ensured," he added, as 40 percent of Beijing's 66,000 taxis would operate 24 hours and rail transport could be extended during the Games.

Liu said an advanced urban transport network would improve the city's environment.

"If one percent of private car owners in China turned to public transport, up to 80 million liters of gasoline would be saved every day," he said.

(China Daily December 14, 2007)