BEIJING — China saw a rising use of public transport in urban areas in the first 11 months of the year, official data showed.

In the January-November period, the number of passenger trips using public transport in 36 major cities reached 48.37 billion, jumping 23.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Transport.

More specifically, the number of bus and tram passengers increased 14.4 percent year-on-year during the period, while that of rail passengers soared 38.7 percent, the ministry said.

China's fixed-asset investment in transport hit 3.28 trillion yuan ($514.98 billion) during the period.