These days, Beijing's roads are site of an ongoing battle between cars, bicycles and pedestrians. Cars come off worse, because person-powered transport is unaffected by traffic jams. The average speed of motor vehicles in downtown Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou is 12 - 8 kph compared with 15kph on a bicycle, so motoring in the city is actually slower than riding a bicycle. The Beijing Traffic Management Bureau reports that 90 percent of the traffic capacity is either saturated or over-saturated. Roads are packed bumper to bumper at rush hour and there is habitually high congestion in 65 spots. Traffic jams are a source of public stress and low confidence in road safety.
According to the Beijing Roads Administration, in March 2004 total road mileage within the capital reached 18,239 kilometers. Trunk sections of the second and third ring roads have three-lane two-way through-traffic and for the fourth ring road there are four lanes in either direction. Artery roads, such as Chang’an Avenue, are 50 meters wide. Yet despite regular road upgrades, traffic jams persist. Irrational planning and ineffective management of transport hardware are obvious causes of traffic congestion, but road users are also blameworthy. The new Road Traffic Safety Law promulgated on May 1, 2004 extends responsibility for road safety from what had previously been only vehicles to people on the road.
The Battle between Vehicles and Folk
When the PRC was founded there were 2,300 motor vehicles in Beijing. By February 1997 this figure had grown to one million, and during the following six and a half years to 1999 it doubled, reaching the two million figure projected for 2010. New car drivers in Beijing are increasing at a rate of 10,000 per month. When vehicles were rare on the road they would generally give way to pedestrians. This meant that a carriage-way could be equal in width to any thoroughfare or footpath, but great changes have occurred since then. All classes of road have been widened and carriage-ways are now the widest, but there is still frequent conflict between motorists and other road users.
Motorists think nothing of driving along cycle lanes, or even along the sidewalk, when road traffic is at a standstill. This triggers off outrage and complaint, when cyclists are often obliged to lift their bicycles out of the way of cars in their path. Wang Shuying is a traffic warden for the Baiyunguan Primary School. Her job is to halt cars while children cross the road, but many motorists simply ignore her. Wang's contempt for them is voluble. She fumes: "Drivers who can't even wait for one minute and just barge through are loathsome, and deserve to be the victims of the accidents they cause."
Motorists also have their story to tell. After sitting behind the wheel of a car in Beijing for a few hours even the most considerate and well-mannered of drivers is driven to crazed, cursing dementia by pedestrian disregard for traffic regulations. Chen Xukai, a cab driver with the Beijing North Taxi Company testifies to this: "Every time I wait for a red light to change, cyclists and pedestrians heading in the same direction position themselves right in front of my cab, making it impossible for me to move when the light changes. Rage and curses leave them unmoved."
The new Road Traffic Safety Law clearly states that motor vehicles must give way to cyclists and pedestrians. The latter two applaud this regulation, but drivers are disgruntled and aggrieved at being landed with all the responsibility. Says Li Gang, driver with a Beijing-based tourism company, "This is entirely illogical, as absence of restrictions on pedestrians makes traffic congestion even worse." His remark echoes the sentiments of many drivers. The key to solving the problem of traffic jams clearly lies in both pedestrians and motorists abiding by traffic regulations.
Old and New Road Hands
Statistics from the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau show that 138,000 new drivers appeared on the road in the first eight months of 2003. The rate now stands at 20,000 rookie drivers per month, the majority of whom are an anathema to experienced drivers and the public at large. Chief culprits of traffic jams, they are unskilled, unfamiliar with road conditions and lack the rapid reflexes necessary to deal with the unexpected. According to the law, new drivers should take the slow lane on the far right, but as Xu Wenjie, who obtained his driving licence just two months ago, confirms, they drive along the express lane regardless. "These novices drive too slowly, have poor road sense and are the most common cause of traffic jams. They often have little idea of how their cars work," says Chen Dashan, a taxi driver. This he illustrates with a story of how one evening his taxi was held up by a lady driver who couldn't find the car switch for her head lights and had left her car to get help.
The 2004 Road Traffic Safety Law states that new drivers must affix a notice to the rear window of their cars, but few novices comply. Zhang Liang is one of many who prefer not to declare their inexperience. He admits, "I took a 58-hour training course at a driving school where simulated road conditions are far simpler and safer than in real life, but I still don't use the "Beware, Leaner Driver" notice. It encourages drivers to toot their horns, and that makes me or someone similarly new on the road nervous and evenmore likely to cause chaos." Zhang says that hardly any new members of his auto club confess to their inexperience.
Driving schools that churn out road menaces were finally brought to account when the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau began pinning responsibility on driving schools whose "graduates" commit traffic offences. If a driver with less than one-year's experience causes a road accident, his or her driving school is answerable. The traffic management department has also heightened its control on driving schools, making it more difficult for new drivers to obtain certificates.
Do Traffic Police and Wardens Effectively Control Traffic?
The function of traffic police is to reduce traffic snarl-ups caused by human factors, and to help maintain order on the road. Unfortunately there is antagonism between traffic police and road users. The former have the right to fine violators of the traffic law but it is often impossible for them to perform their duty. Wang, a policeman with Xicheng District Traffic Management Department, gives an example: "On one occasion, a man dashed across the road on a red light. According to the new law I should have fined him 50 yuan RMB but before I had finished explaining this to him other pedestrians had gathered round, all complaining how unfair it was to fine a wage earner. As the situation was becoming unruly I had to let him go." People are still unclear about the function of traffic fines, often assuming they are imposed purely for financial reasons rather than as a warning. Beijing traffic police currently use photographic evidence to prosecute road felons, which entails waiting in hidden locations. This practice has caused a wave of complaints especially since promulgation of the new law. Previously the penalty for jumping a red light was a five yuan fine, but it now stands at 200 yuan. Traffic police bear the brunt of public resentment at this huge hike. More brazen drivers negotiate over such violations, and many traffic policemen admit that Benz or BMW drivers are experienced and confident bargainers. "Although not all drivers have the means or power to bargain over traffic infringements there are some with vested interests that exempt them from reprisals," says Chen Dashan who as a taxi driver with no connections resents this overt bias.
Liu Qingxu, a traffic warden in the Gongzhufen Crew is happy to see better road order since promulgation of the new law. "Fining drivers is the most effective way of getting them to abide by the law. No one took regulations seriously until 200 yuan fines for double parking or jumping a red light were imposed. Most drivers are now far better behaved on the road. " Yet there are still those that flout the law when there are traffic police in sight. Says Liu, "The best way to punish scofflaws is to fine them. Traffic wardens now have the right to impose this penalty."
Promulgation of the new Road Traffic Safety Law has made clear China's resolve to remedy its traffic situation. Information on traffic awareness and new laws is widely available. Beefing up penalties and active application of the traffic law has already made a big difference to Beijing's chaotic roads. This is another preparatory measure on the capital's part towards smoothing the way for the massive influx of road users in 2008 when Beijing hosts the Olympic Games.
(China Today August 28, 2004)
