Were there any changes in Beijing's traffic conditions on September 22?

The answer is undoubtedly no. Despite being International Car Free Day we still saw anxious drivers in their snail-slow cars and helpless cyclists stopped by long queues of vehicles waiting at crossroads. On their faces, we read expressions of anxiety, helplessness, and fretfulness. This is the real picture painted every day in the sprawling capital. Day after day in recent years, we have experienced such traffic conditions non-expectant of fundamental improvements.

As a very ordinary particle of the international metropolis, we ourselves have chosen to live in Beijing perhaps to contribute to our self-development and to enjoy the added conveniences brought by rapid modernization, yet we can't escape from experiencing the back lashes of co-existing with the rapid transformations that are taking place in the city. The question is whether it is necessary to face such bad and deteriorating traffic conditions while enjoying a relatively comfortable and luxurious life in Beijing in other aspects?

As the country's capital, the headquarters of swarming foreign companies and local offices, and the destination of numerous dignitaries, Beijing now boasts as having one of the largest vehicle numbers compared to other cities in the nation. It now has nearly 2.5 million vehicles, and this number is increasing by an astonishing 1,000 vehicles per day. The municipal authorities have also declared they would not follow in the footsteps of their counterparts in some other big cities like Shanghai in raising the thresholds for car buyers.

As one of the important pillars of the modern economy and a main symbol of modernization, cars have played a role in promoting economic development and providing convenience for people's daily transportation. However, the ever-deteriorating traffic conditions and air quality have sounded alarm bells that it is time for us to reflect on our prevailing car policy, traffic management and conscience.

We have been holding an illusion for several years that the capital's roads would not become congested after the stem roads under construction are completed. However, with the completion of the Third, Fourth, Fifth and even Sixth Ring Road, we have not seen fundamental improvements in its traffic conditions.

In addition to some unclear road and overpass designs and structures and poor management in some parts of the network, road users have also contributed significantly to road congestion.

Drivers, cyclists, or pedestrians often take all possible means to reach their destinations while caring little about whether they break traffic rules. Most of the city's dwellers, from the member of transportation authorities to ordinary residents, have seldom stopped to think about how to improve traffic conditions, while complaining about the trouble brought by others.

Beijing does have a large population and a large number of vehicles, but Tokyo and New York have more. Does that mean that the two cities have worse traffic conditions? Not necessarily.

Since it was launched in France in 1998, some 1,500 cities and 100 million people worldwide have now joined in marking International Car Free Day. While people of different ages and from all walks of life across the world were taking means to promote public awareness of "green" modes of transportation - walking, cycling, car sharing, carpooling, and public transport, what were our fellows in Beijing, one of the most crammed metropolises, doing? And how many other cites in this country have joined the car free campaign since Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, first launched the Car Free Day in October 2000?

It is unrealistic to encourage all car users to temporarily give up driving cars.

But it is time for our decision-makers and residents in congested cities, like Beijing, to think about how to enhance people's traffic awareness in the hope of solving the deteriorating traffic conditions.

(China Daily 09/24/2005 page4)