Transportation Planning is Big Business in Beijing
Yan Wang rushes downstairs from the midrise office building where Parsons Brinckerhoff China has its Beijing office and makes a dash for the sedan her driver has pulled into the courtyard. Her client, the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games, has called a last-minute meeting at its headquarters in north central Beijing. Wang is the manager of urban and transportation planning in PB’s Beijing office, and she—of all people—knows it will take at least an hour to negotiate the city traffic.
It is a beautiful blue sky day with roses blooming along the second ring road that allows the car to skirt the central city. Wang snaps a photo as the car passes National Stadium—the already famous Olympic venue nicknamed the Bird’s Nest for its woven steel exterior frame. At the meeting, all the venue managers will give Wang their comments about the pedestrian study that PB has prepared.