The Beijing subway is the second largest metro system in the world with 465 kilometres of track servicing the vast urban and suburban area of Beijing municipality. Opened in 1969, it now consists of 17 lines with more than 232 stations and an average of 9.5 million daily commuters. Largely funded by the Beijing Municipal Government, its low flat fare of 2.00 Renminbi (or US $ 0.32) makes it the cheapest of any municipal metro system in China and a hugely popular means of transportation in the crowded and frenetic metropolis. To accommodate the growing number of users, extensive expansion plans are set to more than double the network by 2020.