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China's `Car Free Day' fizzles out

More than 100 Chinese cities including Beijing staged a "Car Free Day" yesterday to fight congestion and pollution, but the streets of the capital remained defiantly clogged by traffic jams.

Beijing's middle class climbed into their cars to go shopping and touring as usual, apparently disregarding an injunction to leave the vehicles at home -- a pattern that was repeated in the other 107 participating cities.

"It's the same as always," taxi driver Dong Yongjun said as he navigated up the capital's congested Third Ring Road. "I don't see any difference."

The situation was similar in other major cities, such as Shanghai and Wuhan, a vast industrial city in the center of the country.

In Beijing and the other cities, some areas were open only to pedestrians, cyclists, taxis and buses from 7am to 7pm yesterday.

While most major Chinese cities were part of the "Car Free Day" and "Public Transport Week," there was one glaring exception -- Guangzhou, which is home to more than 10 million people and 1 million cars.

"Limiting the use of cars is not practical in the city," a municipal government official said.

Beijing had significantly more success last month, when it banned more than 1 million cars from its roads for a four-day period to test what it could do to clear the air during next year's Olympics.

The difference could be that last month it was a real ban, with more than 6,500 traffic police on duty to penalize offenders, while yesterday's "Car Free Day" was a voluntary measure.

Every Sept. 22 is "Car Free Day" in many countries around the world, but it is the first time China has tried to join in a substantial way.

The day came at the end of China's "Public Transport Week," which was meant to publicize the government's goal of getting 50 percent of the nation's urban residents to use buses and trains rather than private cars.

Environmental awareness is growing in China, but rapid economic growth remains a top government priority, creating difficult choices for policy makers.

China's auto industry has been a key part of the nation's booming economy. Vehicle production rose by 32.7 percent in July compared to the same period last year.

That is good for the economy but bad for the environment. A report from the State Environmental Protection Administration said that on bad days, 79 percent of air pollution in Chinese cities is caused by car fumes.

Many ordinary Chinese view the growing number of cars with concern, not so much because of fears for the environment, but because of the epic traffic jams that result during rush hours.

"Cars certainly offer motorists plenty of freedom to move around, especially those living in remote areas," the China Daily said in an opinion piece yesterday.

"But in many Chinese cities, this greater convenience has rapidly turned into a traffic nightmare, as roads become increasingly gridlocked by the rising number of cars," it said.
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