Another Approach to Reduce Traffic Jam in Megacities

Daily gridlocks in megacities such as Beijing have worsened recently. There are several measures being taken by authorities to help alleviating traffic congestion in the cities. The traffic congestion in the city causes severe air pollution. During the Summer Olympics in 2008, hosted by Beijing, vehicles with odd or even number plates were banned to drive in Beijing on alternate days in order to reduce congestion and reducing air pollution in the cities.

Now, all cars are banned on the streets one day a week, based on their license plate number. However, some drivers evade the rules by purchasing a second vehicle.

According to news report, soon Beijing will start to sharply limit new vehicle registrations in an effort to reduce traffic jam in the city. The city will allow only 240,000 vehicles (which is about one- third of the vehicle registration this year) to be registered starting next year.

According to the report, Beijing now has 4.76 million vehicles as compared to 2.6 million in 2005. With the population of 17 million, it is expected that car ownership will reach 7 million in the year 2015 in case of a do nothing scenario.