Beijing rush hour commute - my daytime nightmare

Last week I began an internship at UNDP here in Beijing. I've been considering working in the diplomacy or development fields and thought it would be a good opportunity to get some firsthand experience. I'll be helping out with communications: writing and editing press releases, gathering development news for other UN agencies, helping to plan media events, etc. It'll be the most responsibility I've been asked to take on in an internship, and, to be honest, it's a bit daunting. The only thing more daunting than the work itself is the commute from Peking University.

I only live a few miles away from th UN Beijing headquarters, pretty much a straight shot down the north Third or Fourth Ring roads. However, thanks to traffic congestion and the absence of any real highways in the city, the trip takes over an hour by bus (a little over 40 minutes on the express bus). While this may not sound too bad, imagine this scenario: You first have to find the correct bus stop. It doesn't help that there are often multiple stops with the same name serving different bus lines. Buses normally arrive in packs of at least 3 or 4, meaning you regularly have to sprint 20 meters in either direction of the designated stop to catch the bus before it speeds off. Between 6 and 10am and 5 and 10pm every bus is full, yet you somehow have to find a way to squeeze on.

Now this is all par for course in a developing metropolis like Beijing. However, the city compounds the problem of overcrowding by insisting on putting ticket collectors on every bus. I really do pity the ticket collectors. They make about 1300 RMB (about $160), spending countless hours every day weaving their way through a tightly packed mass of commuters. However, the fare collecting system is inefficient at best, and utterly dysfunctional during rush hour. Most commuters (about 9 in 10) use electronic swipe cards to pay their fare. Simple enough. The rest have to purchase a ticket from the ticket seller, posted at the back of the bus (probably to keep people from sneaking in through the back door). Thus, when someone needs to purchase a ticket during rush hour, either the ticket seller or the passenger has to somehow make their way through a densely packed human mass, stepping on my feet and jabbing my ribs in the process, to make the transaction. Add this to the Banshee-like wailing of the ticket seller repeated between each or 20 stops (Passengers move in! Buy a ticket if you didn't swipe! Exit out the back door! No smiling on the bus!) and you get a transportation experience only slightly less painful than 20 consecutive tooth extractions.

I'm moving to an apartment along the light rail loop soon, and will be taking that into work starting next week. The commute will be more manageable. I've decided to take the long way around to avoid some of the passenger crush. It would be ironic, yet not surprising, if plenty of other passengers already have the same idea, creating a longer yet no more enjoyable commute... Will keep you posted

-Edit-
So I continued having some pretty nasty commutes my first week, but the trip on the light rail seems to be the way to go. The fact that I can always get a seat and can read/listen to music in peace makes up for the extra 20 minutes of commuting time. I'm going to get a bike for the trip between the subway and my office so that the only contact I'll have with buses is the occasional rear-end collision.