In 2009, the capital of China alone squeezed in 4.7 million odd motor
vehicles, largely speaking of private owned automobiles. It is unfortunate that
this number will grow to seven million vehicles by end of this year. The high
rate of urbanization due to growing economy has resulted in household level
expansion. Here, I will list a number of measures the government is going to
implement in order to reduce impact of traffic congestion on health and well
being. It is interesting to note that in Beijing 70% of population has faced
traffic so bad at least one time that they were forced to return back home.
In 2010 alone the social cost of congestion to residents of Beijing
has been between 80 to 190 billion Yuan. The municipal government has targeted the
private car owner by making public transit system more attractive. The busses
remain the backbone of the city despite low speeds. This is being worked on by
introducing additional lanes, smart cards, improved busses, reduced fares, less
time consuming bus routes and specific bus lanes. A BRT system would bring
eight million additional daily passengers.
If this would not be enough, there would have to be parking fees
implemented. It’s only sensible to charge for parking in public space as the
owner would think twice before using his automobile. The other way to implement
is by making parking fees a law and reducing the number of parking spaces. This
would also increase the charges. In the 11th five year plan there
are plans to build 26 Park-and-Ride centres.
On a similar note is to probably implement usage based toll scheme.
The Olympic Games has imposed a car ban in its locality and it was
successful. Though it would be difficult impose something similar on a daily
basis. Thus since beginning of 2011 the government has introduced a limit on
car licenses to 20,000 permits a month. This was at a time when there were five
million eligible applications sent across. Shanghai is the only city to successfully
implement license plate auctioning. A possibility to devise a policy of one car
per family might prove beneficial. Also, non-Beijing residents must own an
apartment and get a parking permit before being allowed to buy a car.
All in all these policies are yet not highly successful with
growing incomes and private vehicle being sign of status symbol. In my opinion
there must be political initiative to make masses aware the ill effects of
vehicle congestion. Not only will it affect health but also the very standard
of living of the growing middle class. Beijing Municipal Administration and
Communications Card or Yikatong is a means
to relax social mindset towards using public transport. It can be used for subway lines, public city buses, Beijing airport express
train and also long distance bus routes.
The Traffic Demand Management Policy work in time, for Beijing
toppled USA in becoming the world’s largest automobile market in 2009.
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