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Traffic control scheme

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-21 09:09

It is important to guarantee the smooth flow of traffic in Beijing during the Olympic Games, but this should not be at the expense of local residents.

This has been reflected in the detailed measures published by the Beijing municipal government on Thursday for traffic control from July 20 to September 20. Most motor vehicles will have to run on roads every other day according to even or odd number license plates.

Private car owners will be exempted from three months' motor vehicle taxes and road maintenance fees for keeping their cars at home for just one month.

It is not the first time Beijing has adopted measures to reduce the number of vehicles on roads. A similar measure was taken during the Beijing Summit of China-Africa Cooperation Forum in 2006. It considerably eased traffic flow in the capital and improved the air quality as well.

When the total number of motor vehicles is reduced by more than 30 percent, it means much heavier pressure on buses and subways. So how well such public transport is operated will make a difference to not only the success of the traffic control, but also to the management of public transport from a long-term point of view.

Behind the ever increasing number of motor vehicles, the worsening air pollution caused by these vehicles' exhaust emissions, and rising oil prices worldwide, lies the question of how Beijing authorities and citizens should face a complex choice - fewer vehicles but cleaner air and smoother traffic flow or vice versa.

The coming Olympic Games provides the city with a good opportunity to try a traffic control scheme. By implementing such a scheme, Beijing authorities should not forget to keep an eye on both the good points and problems, which will be an important reference for them when formulating city traffic plans in the future.

Seventy percent of public vehicles will be off the roads during the same period, which will help reduce the total number of motor vehicles by a large margin. In 2006 during the China-Africa forum, 490,000 public cars were kept off the roads, and more will this time.

If so many public vehicles kept off the roads do not affect the normal operation of both the central and capital municipal governments, what needs to be done next is to consider whether their numbers can be reduced to ease Beijing's congested traffic and polluted air.