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Beijing forces vehicle traffic to halve, subways choke
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The great thing about running a communist state is that you can dream up and enforce any crazy rule you want -- and the people can't do anything about it.China, scrambling to clean up its image as the Olympics draw closer, has been making changes to the landscape left and right -- beautifying Beijing, planting flowers and cleaning up the streets.
This week, in an effort to clean up the chronically bad air conditions, the government decided to cut down on vehicle pollution by forcing half of the population to take public transportation. Odd and even ending license plates are now supposed to alternate days that they're able to drive in the city -- and violators are faced with a stiff fine.
As a result, half of the population that formerly commuted by automobile and motorcycle is now trying to cram into the city's public transportation system. The resulting load on the subway system was recently so great that authorities had to shut down several lines to prevent the suffocating crowds -- passengers were only allowed get off of the trains for a while. Perhaps the volumes are a bit larger than the Chinese had predicted.
What would happen to you if you were suddenly forced to take public transportation to work or class? Could you walk far enough to reach the bus or train stop and make it to your morning appointments? Would you let your government prevent you from driving every other day of the week?
Filed under: Activism, Arts and Culture, Asia, China, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kevjohn Jul 22nd 2008 12:46PM
I was 'forced' to take public transportation to work after my car died on me. I didn't mind riding my city's underutilized buses, except for the time it took to get to where I was going. It turned a 20-minute commute into an hour and a half. After a week or so of that, I would have been willing to violate any government mandate, directive from God, or a promise to my future unborn children to get myself off that damn bus and back behind the wheel.
Thankfully it didn't come to that as I was able to purchase a solid used vehicle to replace my dead one. And now I'm laughing all the way to work as I rape the environment in my V8-powered SUV.
Chi Jul 22nd 2008 4:33PM
I think a lot of congested cities have odd and even license plate rules. Mexico city, for example. When there are so many people crammed into a city, sometimes it just might be the only solution. Even without public transport, it forces people to carpool.
Jamar Jul 23rd 2008 4:37AM
In Nashville, I live about 10 minutes (walking) from the nearest bus stop. Oddly, the route runs differently depending on the time- the bus runs a different route in the evenings, weekends, and holidays with a stop much closer to home. I never take it, though- I haven't really had a reason to go downtown (or farther than West End) since arrival.
In Shanghai, I live about 5 minutes from a bus that takes me straight to a Metro station. From there I can get to most of Shanghai through a combination of bus and metro. I'm kind of glad Shanghai doesn't have the same restrictions that Beijing has (and didn't need to have even in the Special Olympics or the World Cup of something or other). The subway already gets over-capacity in the rush hours (and is like that from start to close on the north-south Line 1) and I'd go nuts if half of Shanghai's drivers were added to that (well, I would be if I didn't memorize 4 different ways to get to the metro from home and at least 3 different ways of getting to my favorite Shanghai destinations in case the main route is too crowded).