Vehicles from neighboring cities would be banned from entering Beijing’s expressways, undercutting the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development program. (Photo : Reuters)
For the second time in the first half of the year, Beijing topped the list of 10 cities in China with the worst traffic, while Shanghai dropped out of top three in the second quarter, according to a traffic analysis report released by a digital map firm on Tuesday.
Beijing's West Second Ring road was considered the most clogged road in the second quarter, witnessing over 700 hours of heavy traffic.
In a report released by AutoNavi Holdings Ltd AMAP, the worst nighttime traffic--162 hours--occurred in Gongti Beilu, which is near the popular bar street in the Sanlitun District.
Due to the situation, Beijing commuters are compelled to shell out an additional 1,000 yuan ($156) each month to cope with the effects of heavy traffic.
In Shanghai, a new traffic policy was formulated which restricted the entry to expressways of certain vehicles coming from outside the city.
Rush-hour traffic was allegedly reduced by 3 percent after the implementation in April and the congestion index on the expressway was reduced by 9.5 percent.
However, Gu Dasong, an associate professor specializing in transport laws at Dongnan University, is skeptical about the long-term effectiveness of such policy.
"The government cannot rely on restrictions to reduce traffic and must eventually focus on improving public transportation," said Gu.
Gu further explained that implementing a similar rule in Beijing could prove to be problematic, as vehicles from neighboring cities would be banned from entering Beijing's expressways, undercutting the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development program.
In 2008, Beijing tried to alleviate traffic woes by implementing an odd-even policy, which restricted the number of vehicles on the road based on the last digit on their license plates.
China's traffic conditions worsened in the second quarter of the year, with June taking the spot as the most congested month.
The rise of taxi-booking apps has also been blamed for the worsening traffic situation, inflicting an increase of 13 percent on the traffic congestion index.
