Beijingers go car crazy ( 2003-08-06 07:08) (China Daily)
The number of vehicles in Beijing surpassed 2 million on Monday, raising new
questions about the capital city's transportation system.
Vehicles crowd a street in
downtown Beijing August 4, 2003. The number of registered automobiles in
the Chinese capital topped 2 million Monday, including 1.28 million
private ones, according to the local automobile administration. The
massive amount of vehicles exerts great pressures on the city's traffic
system. [Xinhua]
But Shanghai has kept vehicle numbers below 1.4 million through strict
controls over private cars.
It took Beijing only six years to go from having 1 million motor vehicles to
2 million, according to Zhang Jingli, vice-director of the Beijing Municipal
Traffic Management Bureau.
"Out of last year's increase of 276,000 motor vehicles, 90 per cent are
private cars. The percentage is 30 points higher than the national figure,''
Zhang said.
The Beijing authorities have expressed concern at the continued increase in
the number of motor vehicles.
Zhang predicted that there could be 3.5 million cars in Beijing by 2008 if
the current rate of increase continues.
"This will adversely affect the city's transport. Traffic jams will even get
worse,'' he said.
The municipal government will adopt various measures to solve the problems of
a lack of parking space and traffic jams by charging vehicle owners higher fees,
Zhang said.
For example, parking fees were raised last year for vehicles in the city
centre.
Zhang also said strict measures will be adopted to reduce the air pollution
caused by the large number of vehicles.
A total of 300,000 coaches will be banned from driving on three major streets
-- Chang'an, Ping'an and Guang'an avenues -- after next month due to the large
amount of gas they emit.
By contrast, the traffic authority in Shanghai -- China's largest city --
issues only 2,000 to 3,000 licence plates per month through public auction, each
plate costing more than 20,000 yuan (US$2,420).
Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng said last month that the city will gradually loosen
restrictions on the purchase of private vehicles in the long run but further
restrict the use of saloon cars in central areas.
To relieve the traffic pressure, Shanghai is encouraging the development of
public transport, to which Beijing has also given priority.
Shanghai has, a population of more than 16 million, with around 1.4 million
vehicles. The number of vehicles is expected to top 1.5 million by the end of
2005, according to the Shanghai Planning and Development Commission.
Some experts previously predicted that transport in Beijing would come to a
complete standstill once the city had 2 million vehicles.
The Beijing authorities have attributed the current "normal'' traffic
conditions to the fast development of road construction and the implementation
of the so-called intelligent transport systems (ITS).
The systems are expected to take shape in Beijing by 2007 and enhance
efficiency.
ITS facilities already in use in Beijing include the road-traffic monitoring
and management system, the intelligent control headquarters for public transport
and the intelligent operational control system for taxis, according to sources
with the Beijing Transport Development Research Centre.