The Beijing Solution – One Way Beijing Tries to Control Traffic Congestion
Photo: www.china.org.cn
Traffic congestion is a major growing concern in Port Moresby, and there have been advances in technology that try to address this problem. However, one of Earth’s most densely populated cities, Beijing, is taking a simple, non-high tech solution to ease her burden.
The traffic authority equivalent in Beijing is assigning specific days of the week a vehicle can be used on public roads. This, I’d like to called the ‘Beijing Solution’, means car owners must use public transport or car pool on certain days of the week, essentially cutting down on the number of vehicles on the road and carbon emissions.
My guide, Peggy, when I visited Beijing said each vehicle registration numbers or plate numbers indicated which day of the week that particular vehicle is allowed on the road. Fortunately, this is done only during weekdays to minimize traffic and motorists were free to move around during the weekend. This rule doesn’t apply to all, some vehicles were exempt.
Public transport (busses and taxis), government vehicles and some service providers are exempt and can move freely every day. Of course, thanks to their efficient public transport moving around it relatively easy.
I travelled by the city’s metro and found it on time and very affordable at RMB 4 or K2 per trip. The price varies depending on the city or province; in Wuhan (Hubei province) it cost RMB 2 or K1 per trip. However, the metro does not run 24/7; it closes at 11pm every night.
The Beijing Solution is only a minor relief to the city’s [Beijing] congestion woes, but actually kills two birds with one stone. The system promotes commuters to take public or shared transport which cuts down on traffic congestion; which, according to China Daily, is estimated to cost around $11 billion annually, and reduces pollution output.
In Port Moresby we are seeing an influx of vehicles and motorists and this has contributed to the growing traffic congestion. Unfortunately, our solution is to build more and wider roads, but that will not curb it until we address the underlying cause to why citizens opt for private transport.
As I understand it, the main cause for such a large number of private vehicles is the inadequate and unsafe public transport system on offer. I believe if the standard and safety is elevated then we would find more people opting for the public transport. However, we should also be looking at ways like the Beijing Solution to reduce traffic congestion.
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