Beijing has been referred to by citizens as the "capital of congestion" -- the characters for "congestion" and "capital" have a very similar pronunciation in Chinese. The Beijing government recently announced another plan to help reduce the city's congestion -- a congestion charge.
Though the specifics of the charge are yet to be revealed, it has already generated fierce debate online, highlighting the traffic problem again. But is Beijing really the capital of congestion? What do foreign residents, who make up a considerable and increasing part of Beijing's population, think of the traffic in Beijing?
On Wednesday, our reporter interviewed foreign residents of Beijing at random, to find out what they think..
What do they think of the traffic in Beijing overall?
Julia and her friend are students from Germany who are taking a 30-day trip in China. They rated the transport in Beijing quite highly. "The traffic is well organized here. And the red lights and green lights do work. In Germany, you sometimes have to wait for a long time for the red light. But it's nice here in Beijing; you can just walk across the street with a bit of looking around."
But Limor and Roi from Tel Aviv University in Israel do not agree. They plan to travel for five weeks in China and just landed in Beijing. They were already alarmed by the "crazy" traffic. Roi said, "Everybody turns on junctions without paying attention to the lights. You don't feel safe", Limor joined him immediately, saying, "Yes, it's dangerous here. It feels like you are in a jungle while crossing the road."It took them a long time to get from the airport to the city yesterday, even though it was early in the morning.
What do they think of Beijing's public transport?
Julius, 22, and Jessica, 23, are both Germans doing an internship in BMW's China headquarters in Beijing.
Julius, a student majoring in mechanical engineering at Technical University of Dresden, thought highly of Beijing's subway, "it is very good, always in time, no delays."And the taxis are fairly good as well, "they are not that expensive, and you can go anywhere you want".
But Jessica was reserved about Beijing's buses. "The bus system is not good enough to go quickly from one point to another."It takes her 15 to 20 minutes in the morning to get to the office from home by bus, but it takes an hour in the evening on the same bus–an extra 40 minutes stuck in traffic.
What do they think of Beijing's traffic control measures?
A German who has been working in China for 6 years believes that Beijing's non-driving-day policy does not work well. It orders private cars to take one day off during weekdays based on the last number of the license plate. He argued that many Chinese can afford more than one car and still drive every day.
The new congestion fee, however, may "increase government revenue so it can clean up the air", he thinks. The charge is due to be imposed next year in particular places and during particular time.
Washington Altini, an Italian on business trip in Beijing, thinks it good to take measures to control the heavy traffic. He says Florence and Rome have adopted similar practices.
What can be done to improve Beijing's traffic?
Both Jessica and the German resident talked about how Germany has handled heavy traffic and the ensuing problems, in particular air pollution. In Germany, only "green cars", or eco-friendly cars are allowed into the city, and people are encouraged to buy newer cars, which haves higher emission standard and emit less pollution.
Beijing has taken several measures to grapple with its excessive traffic. Apart from the non-driving-day policy and the proposed congestion fee, Beijing has also increased parking fees and limited car the number of car registrations. However, how effective these measures are still remains to be seen. The key also lies in enforcing existing laws.
