Beijing’s Traffic Renewal

Creation date: 19 August 2009

A recent social survey carried out by the China Youth Daily focused on the issue of urban traffic, noting that 79.8% of respondents in a nationwide 15,217-person survey had to deal with traffic congestion during their work commutes.

The survey also revealed that with regards to solving the urban traffic problem, a proposal with widespread public support includes (from highest support to lowest): scattering workday start and end times; faster subway lines and construction of a light-rail system; promoting a “green ride” campaign to encourage people to ride bicycles and use fewer cars; an urban center improvement plan; having both pedestrians and drivers observe traffic laws; increasing the number of public buses and bus lanes; strengthening the intelligent traffic system; keeping certain license plate numbers off of the roads; and adding a vehicle emissions tax.

In Beijing, after the post-Olympics one-day-per-week driving restriction plan was set, the city saw 700,000 fewer cars on the road every day, with daily pollution emissions being reduced by 375 tons.

But the results of this measure depend on changes in the total amount of vehicles on the road. The Beijing Traffic Management Bureau’s latest statistics reveal that the city has a total of more than 3,560,000 vehicles, with 1,000 added every day. It only took Beijing a year and nine months to get from 3 million cars to 3.56 million. Some experts think that even if the current car-reduction policies continue, it will only be three years before the number of vehicles on the road is again at the level it had reached before the policy was implemented.

As a professor from the Southwest Traffic University said, one reason for analyzing the contradictions of Beijing’s traffic needs is that “on the surface, traffic congestion arises from having too few roads, but the essence of the problem actually lies in the fact that the city’s plan is just not rational. Additionally, the automobile production industry is clearly pulled by domestic demand. Some local governments, in pursuing economic interests, experience an over-production of privately-owned cars that rises to the point of increasing urban congestion.”

As for Beijing, within some of the biggest business circles, numerous office buildings and commercial organizations converge. Sooner or later, the peak of high-volume car imports and exports will inevitably become too much of a burden. One interesting phenomenon is that a main use for Beijing’s family cars is taking children to and from school. Beijing’s elementary and middle school students generally get to school at about 7:30 in the morning, which is exactly when Beijing’s roads are the most clogged with traffic. At this time in the morning, all elementary and middle schools experience the spectacular scene of massive car lines. In the afternoon, when everyone gets out of school, the scene occurs once again. And every vacation sees a similar peak as well.

It’s clear that there are quite a few factors behind the urban traffic problem. And, at the same time, methods for solving this problem will naturally need many different types of action. As for Beijing’s current situation, a few initial actions could provide a great deal of help:

1. Vigorous development should rapidly develop light rail, subway, bus and other parts of the public transportation network, and increase the comfort level and efficiency of public transportation.

2. The city should use economic means to control the quantity of urban motor vehicles, for example by increasing parking fees in the city center, or imposing motor vehicle emissions fees.

[Update: And yes, as one commenter notes, using school buses rather than individual family vehicles to take kids to school would be another obvious piece of 'low hanging fruit.' - eds.]

Source: http://www.greenlaw.org.cn/enblog/?p=163