Is Beijing's Traffic Improving?

Lauren McCarthy | Apr 18, 2011 2:00 pm | 12 comments | 3283 reads

It seems that the city’s efforts to control Beijing’s traffic has been working. In a change from the usual traffic trends, a new quarterly report shows that the duration of traffic jams have dropped by a full hour on average, a significant drop when last year's congestion averaged at two hours and fifteen minutes.

According to bjnews.com, the traffic congestion index for the first quarter of 2011 fell 16.6%. This is some great news for drivers who are sitting in traffic for only a little over an hour on average.

The flow of traffic has also picked up. Within fifth-ring roads, average morning (7am to 9am) speed is 27.5km/h, which is 9.1% higher than last year's 24.5km/h, and for evening rush hour (5pm to 7pm) the speed has jumped to 24.5km/h, a 10.4% increase on last year’s 22.2km/h last year.

The change is being chalked up to the new regulations that include improvements in public transportation services, and the lottery car purchase which has slowed the increase of new vehicles.

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admin's picture admin Submitted by Guest on Fri, 04/22/2011 - 09:41

McCurry wrote:
screw the monorail, we need flying cars

then again, I can see two assholes agruing in midair

careful what you wish for. Most of the newly built fancypants buildings in Beijing have helipads -- just wait till the city authorizes helicopter traffic for the ultra-rich and well-connected.

As if we need more noise pollution ...

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McCurry's picture McCurry Submitted by Guest on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 17:01

screw the monorail, we need flying cars

then again, I can see two assholes agruing in midair

My choice is what I choose to do,
And if I'm causing no harm, it shouldn't bother you.
Your choice is who you choose to be,
And if you're causin' no harm, then you're alright with me.

lauren_mccarthy's picture lauren_mccarthy Submitted by Guest on Wed, 04/20/2011 - 08:36

Herbie wrote:
They need a monorail... surface transport is too slow and getting down to a subway is often more hassle than the journey.

Was suggested in March. By "China Business Unit of Air Train International" so they might have a slight bias
http://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2011/03/02/Beijing-Trains-Restricting-Building-and-Hanging

Deputy Managing Web Editor

marilynmai's picture marilynmai Submitted by Guest on Tue, 04/19/2011 - 14:32

bluefish, that's assuming cars aren't going off the road ever.

maybe more than 17,600 cars are being totaled each month? or just, you know, spontaneously combusting.

would that be all that surprising...?

though in general, i agree: i don't trust these "studies."

johnnybigstar's picture johnnybigstar Submitted by Guest on Tue, 04/19/2011 - 10:22

well bluefish your 'logic' is certainly appreciated and i also agree with everything admin said..and laughed a little while reading it!

... I can only fathom that the people who conducted this study are the sames ones who claim there was '21 days of blue sky' in beijing last month yet not a single friend can recall more than 1 or 2 days of blue sky..what exactly does constitute 'blue' anyway? lol
...I have been driving in Beijing for 3 years so i know what i'm saying when i tell everyone the traffic is worse now than ever and the 3rd rings roads are jammed from 7am to 11pm everyday now..
..well a local once told a joke.. what's the only true thing in a chinese newspaper?.... the date!

beepac's picture beepac Submitted by Guest on Mon, 04/18/2011 - 19:08

It seems the ban on out-of-town plates has helped curb rush hour traffic but there is still so much that needs to be done to make most commutes bearable.

Beijing needs to construct a separate mini-subway system for high ranking government officials like the one in Washington.

Also, those who try to cut into line coming off of offramps need to be castrated.

burntbread's picture burntbread Submitted by Guest on Mon, 04/18/2011 - 17:52

yep, absolute bullshit.

Anyway some 10% imrpovement is hardly noticeable.

Hey I got here in 54 minutes instead of an hour!

Yowzer!

The cyber stalker; having very poor social skills so that they may have a limited number or no friends, knowing no life outside of the Internet due to insecurities that make them fear the real world...
ouch!

admin's picture admin Submitted by Guest on Mon, 04/18/2011 - 16:11

i call bullshit on this study. it's the same.

Honestly the majority of traffic jams have nothing to do with car volume and everything to do with:

1. The fact that every pair of idiots out there that touch bumpers will stop dead in their tracks and wait the hour it will take for some authority to come around and adjucate which of the two is the biggest asshole.

2. The fact that traffic is regularly stopped along major roads to let some official or important guest not have to deal with the shit that everyone else must deal with daily.

clear this up by banning/minimizing roadblocks and forcing all those in accidents to get the fuck out of the way** will clear up at least half the jams in the city.

** with technology this should be easy. There are cameras EVERYWHERE, just equip cops wit the ability to view poadside camera recordings and you can not only adjudicate fault, but also administer fines to all those that don't pull their cars over.

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

http://astore.amazon.com/truerunmedia-20

bluefish's picture bluefish Submitted by Guest on Mon, 04/18/2011 - 15:28

I hate to bring logic into this, but how can the "lottery car purchase" have any effect on the traffic problems? Such a regulation only keeps NEW cars off the road–it doesn't take existing cars off the road. It has zero effect on immediate traffic problems.

The news that the traffic is slightly better is great: but this lottery didn't do it.

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