Beijing gets tough on traffic
Source: Xinhua |
December 24, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BEIJING yesterday announced a cap on the number of new cars on its streets as part of a series of tough traffic measures designed to ease congestion in the gridlocked capital.
The Beijing municipal government said it will limit the number of new car license plates it issues in 2011 to 240,000.
In other initiatives, parking fees will be raised, vehicles registered outside the capital banned from the center of town and a resident limited to owning one car.
From today, Beijing car buyers will have to draw lots to obtain a car license plate, said Zhou Zhengyu, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing municipal government.
Private car buyers will receive 88 percent - 17,600 plates per month on average - of the city's new license plates. Two percent are for commercial use. The remaining 10 percent will go to company and government institutions and others, Zhou said.
"The number of cars in Beijing has grown quickly as urbanization and modernization progresses. This has caused severe congestion in some downtown areas, especially at rush hour," he added. "Decisive action must be taken to control traffic in Beijing. Otherwise the congestion will only get worse."
Over recent months, an average of nearly 2,000 new cars have been hitting the road each day, in a city of 17 million residents. Before the restrictions were announced, Beijing authorities had estimated that the number of vehicles would reach 7 million by 2015.
In 2010, more than 700,000 news cars were sold in Beijing, bringing the city's total to more than 4.7 million, statistics from the Beijing Transport Commission show.
According to the city's regulation, a Beijing driver will be permitted to own only one car in his or her name.
The regulation says car owners who replace their old vehicles will be automatically given new car plates and not have to take part in lot-drawing.
In order to ease congestion, the regulation has also adjusted parking fee standards. The new standards will take effect from April 1, 2011.
Under these standards, parking fees inside the Fifth Ring Road will be charged per 15 minutes rather than per 30 minutes. Parking fees in the city will range from 2 yuan (US$0.3) to 10 yuan per hour.
Cars registered outside of Beijing will be banned from being driven within the Fifth Ring Road on work days during peak times of 7am to 9am and 5pm to 8pm.
The new measures will strike a blow to car dealerships in Beijing, said Su Hui, a director of the China Automobile Dealers Association.
"Beijing's 450 dealerships will have to restructure. Some of them will be forced out of the market, as sales will plunge from about 800,000 annually to 240,000," said Su, a former manager at the Yayuncun Automobile Trade Market, the biggest car dealership complex in Beijing.
Rumors about the control measures started circulating earlier this month, sparking a car-buying frenzy.
In the past week, car ownership in the city increased by 30,000, the city transport authority said.
When Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008, it made vehicles with odd and even number plates drive on alternate days.
Now all cars are banned from the streets one day a week, based on their license plate numbers. But some people have bought a second vehicle to dodge the rule.
About one-fifth of new sales are for a second car, the Beijing government says.
The Beijing municipal government said it will limit the number of new car license plates it issues in 2011 to 240,000.
In other initiatives, parking fees will be raised, vehicles registered outside the capital banned from the center of town and a resident limited to owning one car.
From today, Beijing car buyers will have to draw lots to obtain a car license plate, said Zhou Zhengyu, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing municipal government.
Private car buyers will receive 88 percent - 17,600 plates per month on average - of the city's new license plates. Two percent are for commercial use. The remaining 10 percent will go to company and government institutions and others, Zhou said.
"The number of cars in Beijing has grown quickly as urbanization and modernization progresses. This has caused severe congestion in some downtown areas, especially at rush hour," he added. "Decisive action must be taken to control traffic in Beijing. Otherwise the congestion will only get worse."
Over recent months, an average of nearly 2,000 new cars have been hitting the road each day, in a city of 17 million residents. Before the restrictions were announced, Beijing authorities had estimated that the number of vehicles would reach 7 million by 2015.
In 2010, more than 700,000 news cars were sold in Beijing, bringing the city's total to more than 4.7 million, statistics from the Beijing Transport Commission show.
According to the city's regulation, a Beijing driver will be permitted to own only one car in his or her name.
The regulation says car owners who replace their old vehicles will be automatically given new car plates and not have to take part in lot-drawing.
In order to ease congestion, the regulation has also adjusted parking fee standards. The new standards will take effect from April 1, 2011.
Under these standards, parking fees inside the Fifth Ring Road will be charged per 15 minutes rather than per 30 minutes. Parking fees in the city will range from 2 yuan (US$0.3) to 10 yuan per hour.
Cars registered outside of Beijing will be banned from being driven within the Fifth Ring Road on work days during peak times of 7am to 9am and 5pm to 8pm.
The new measures will strike a blow to car dealerships in Beijing, said Su Hui, a director of the China Automobile Dealers Association.
"Beijing's 450 dealerships will have to restructure. Some of them will be forced out of the market, as sales will plunge from about 800,000 annually to 240,000," said Su, a former manager at the Yayuncun Automobile Trade Market, the biggest car dealership complex in Beijing.
Rumors about the control measures started circulating earlier this month, sparking a car-buying frenzy.
In the past week, car ownership in the city increased by 30,000, the city transport authority said.
When Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008, it made vehicles with odd and even number plates drive on alternate days.
Now all cars are banned from the streets one day a week, based on their license plate numbers. But some people have bought a second vehicle to dodge the rule.
About one-fifth of new sales are for a second car, the Beijing government says.
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