Traffic takes its toll

With traffic jams now among the defining features of China's metropolitan areas, major cities are desperately seeking ways to ease traffic congestion by any means necessary, even if that means charging motorists who wish to enter areas prone to traffic jams.

These "congestion fees," which are set to be rolled out in Beijing in the near future, follow a raft of controversial efforts to combat congestion, such as limiting cars from driving on certain days according to their plate numbers, and increasing fees for parking.

In a Web-based survey by the China Youth Daily, 74.8 percent of the 2,148 respondents said they were experiencing serious congestion in their cities and over 60 percent polled opposed the charges, saying that the government should improve city planning and public transportation to ease traffic pressures.

Some 61 percent of those surveyed were private car owners, saying that the government should not place this burden on the public.

A tough sell

"These fees are difficult to collect. It's very hard for people to accept that they should pay a price for contributing to traffic jams, because they think the government should solve the problem. They think it's not their responsibility to solve it," Niu Fengrui, director of the Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), told the Global Times.

However, Sheng Guangyao, one of Niu's colleagues at the CASS Institute, points out that these cities don't have many other options. "Increasing the cost of using private cars will help to ease the city's traffic and it's imperative that the city increase its transport efficiency in the short term," he said. "Boosting public transportation is a long-term solution."

Guangzhou, the capital city in South China's Guangdong Province, began debating whether to charge congestion fees in 2010, when Han Zhipeng, a delegate to the Guangzhou People's Political Consultative Conference, tried to bring forward proposals to charge congestion fees. He was initially rebuffed, but the topic persisted.

From 2009, Guangzhou has seen a dramatic rise in private vehicles since a series of stimulus policies initiated by the city government like lowering the automobile consumption tax came out in 2008. By 2011, the number of cars in Guangzhou hit 2.1 million, according to a Guangzhou Daily report.

Last month, Guangzhou, following Beijing, became the second city to introduce a car plate lottery system. Han said Guangzhou would also introduce policies banning traffic on alternating days. Meanwhile, in Shanghai, the first city ever to carry out the plate auction in 1994, the average bid for an auctioned car plate has hit 64,367 yuan ($10,182).

The situation in Beijing is no better. In February, vehicles in Beijing surpassed 5 million, according to figures released by the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau, and this number was expected to exceed 6 million in 2017.

In August, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport released its Five Year Plan, saying that the city would start to charge congestion fees, a fee levied on car owners who want to enter busy areas. According to the plan, the area of Beijing within the second ring road would be subject to these congestion fees, though experts are divided on how the fees should be collected.

One possibility is via an annual fee for vehicles that travel within this area, while another option would be to use toll booth stations. However Wang Limei, the secretary general of the China Road Transport Association told the Global Times that these toll booths could potentially cause traffic disruptions as well.

According to a manager surnamed Sun with the China Automobile Dealers Association, despite government measures to restrict car driving based on license plate lotteries and increasing car parking fees, it will be difficult to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads because demand is so strong.

 "People's enthusiasm was not cooled down by the worsening traffic situation or the increasing cost of using private cars. Congestion fees may be another method to limit car use and its effect has yet to be seen," Sun said.

Better public transport

Han told the Global Times that he knew his proposal to charge congestion fees would be turned down. "I knew it was not a good time and the reason I did that was to encourage the government and society to think about how to build a comprehensive and comfortable public transportation environment."

The public certainly have issues with the public transport environment. "The bus is not punctual and the subway is too crowded. Some middle-aged woman standing beside the train door is prepared to push you into the train and strange smells fill in the subway. I'd rather drive by myself," 32-year-old Beijing resident Li Xiang told the Global Times.

Li said he has tried bikes, which were provided by Beijing government to boost public transport, but found there was no bicycle lane on many of the roads.

Li Boli, a 30-year-old property developer in Guangzhou told the Global Times that he planned to buy another car in case Guangzhou issues traffic bans. "If the bus seats were cleaner or the train was less crowded, people who already have a car may be more willing to abandon their expensive cars and choose public way," he said.

"People always have ways to avoid effects brought by government's limiting policies. So the fundamental solution is to add more lines and improve the environment on public buses and the subway," Niu Fengrui said, adding that charging a congestion fee was a reluctant, temporary way to solve traffic jams. 

"But on the other hand, limiting personal car use and ownership would press the government to accelerate the development for better public transportation," Niu added.