Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province, began to optimize its bus transportation system this year, striving to build a "transit city" by 2018.

With investment of over 100 billion yuan ($16.27 billion), the city will devote five years to making buses the first choice for public transportation.

"Improving bus speed is our priority," said Sun Lin, deputy director of Guiyang transportation bureau. "The city will build a sound transportation system with rail transit and the BRT as the backbone and regular buses as the network." Eventually, average bus operating speeds will reach 18 km per hour during rush hour.

Meanwhile, the city plans to increase the proportion of bus transit lanes from 7 percent to 15 percent in central urban areas (Yunyan and Nanming district).

Within the next five years, the city will continue to replace old buses with new ones and purchase 2,694 new buses. By the end of 2018, 80 percent of buses may be equipped with advanced configuration, which will make buses more comfortable.

Sun said that more than 700 buses have been replaced so far this year.