Lottery rollout for car plates
Source: Agencies |
January 2, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
For thousands of commuters in Beijing, 2011 started with a click not a bang.
Residents hoping to snap up license plates under the debut of a quota system aimed at easing congested streets logged onto a website that launched in the first moments of the new year.
Within 10 minutes, 6,000 people had successfully claimed a new license plate.
As of 11am yesterday, the website to apply for a license plate, www.bjhjyd.gov.cn, had accepted 36,138 applications, an official with the city's transportation committee said.
The new system aims to reduce the number of cars in the capital.
The city will only allow 240,000 new car registrations in 2011 - two-thirds less than last year - and is parceling them out via the monthly online lottery.
Car owners in Beijing have to apply first and then see if they are lucky enough to obtain a license plate.
Private car owners will receive 88 percent, or 17,600 plates per month on average, of the city's new license plates.
Those who do not get a license plate will be automatically included in the following month's draw.
The city now has 4.76 million vehicles, compared to 2.6 million in 2005.
A global survey conducted last year by IBM said Beijing is tied with Mexico City for the world's worst commute. Worries are growing that Beijing is choking itself for future growth as it gets more difficult to move people and goods around the city.
Nearly 70 percent of Beijing drivers told the survey they had run into traffic so bad they've turned around at least once and gone home.
Some people online have joked the system won't bring much relief and have mocked the web address, www.bjhjyd.com, which stands for "Beijing Huanjie Yongdu," or "Beijing Eases Congestion." Some say the letters can also be short for "Beijing Haiyao Yongdu" or "Beijing Will Still Be Gridlocked."
With only 240,000 license plates available this year, car sales are expected to drop in Beijing.
In 2009, car sales reached 580,000 units in the nation's capital and they were expected to rise further to about 850,000 last year.
Residents hoping to snap up license plates under the debut of a quota system aimed at easing congested streets logged onto a website that launched in the first moments of the new year.
Within 10 minutes, 6,000 people had successfully claimed a new license plate.
As of 11am yesterday, the website to apply for a license plate, www.bjhjyd.gov.cn, had accepted 36,138 applications, an official with the city's transportation committee said.
The new system aims to reduce the number of cars in the capital.
The city will only allow 240,000 new car registrations in 2011 - two-thirds less than last year - and is parceling them out via the monthly online lottery.
Car owners in Beijing have to apply first and then see if they are lucky enough to obtain a license plate.
Private car owners will receive 88 percent, or 17,600 plates per month on average, of the city's new license plates.
Those who do not get a license plate will be automatically included in the following month's draw.
The city now has 4.76 million vehicles, compared to 2.6 million in 2005.
A global survey conducted last year by IBM said Beijing is tied with Mexico City for the world's worst commute. Worries are growing that Beijing is choking itself for future growth as it gets more difficult to move people and goods around the city.
Nearly 70 percent of Beijing drivers told the survey they had run into traffic so bad they've turned around at least once and gone home.
Some people online have joked the system won't bring much relief and have mocked the web address, www.bjhjyd.com, which stands for "Beijing Huanjie Yongdu," or "Beijing Eases Congestion." Some say the letters can also be short for "Beijing Haiyao Yongdu" or "Beijing Will Still Be Gridlocked."
With only 240,000 license plates available this year, car sales are expected to drop in Beijing.
In 2009, car sales reached 580,000 units in the nation's capital and they were expected to rise further to about 850,000 last year.
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