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Bejing plans to spend 12.8 billion yuan (US$1.54 bilion) in the next six years replacing old buses with spacious and environment-friendly ones to provide more convenience and comfort to passengers, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Tuesday.

The upgrading plan will be submitted to the municipal development and planning commission and the municipal bureau of communications for approval.

According the designed plan, a total of 14,000 new buses will be obtained, including 10,000 fueled with natural gas, 2,500 specially designed for the disabled and 1,000 electromotive ones.

The new buses will be able to handle more passengers and will cause less pollution and noises. Also they will be run by engines of higher quality to ensure normal operation on ice and snow, officials with public transit authorities said.

The upgrading plan is part of the city's efforts to well host the 2008 Olympics.

The city now has totaling 18,000 buses, including many to be out of use soon. The buses are widely deemed small, noisy, weak in engine operation and inconvenient for the disabled to ride.

Most of the clean-gas fueled buses running in busy sections of the city now are deemed ineffective in conveying a large number of passengers during peak hours because of a small space, while older buses, although of larger size, use diesel oil that causes severe pollution, officials said.

The city has already completed designing buses more spacious and fueled by clean gas and will put them into use in the near future, they said.(Agencies)(12/18/21001)