Political analysts are coming up with possible solutions to remedy the growing problem of traffic congestion in Beijing, a dilemma other cities are also facing.

Imposing congestion fees and lessening the number of private vehicles are some of the suggestions members of the 12th Beijing Chinese's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) gave out. One of its members Shi Xiangyang said that it is time for local governments to start amending and revising their existing traffic policies.

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In a statement, Shi said that if a rule has been imposed for more than seven years but has not solved the problem, then the approach should be changed.  

He suggested putting up more public utility services like light rails and subways to catch up with the people's demand. He added that these utilities should be of great comfort and convenience to netizens so it becomes their top choice. Shi believes the traffic problem is due to the city's poor traffic management, citing that delimiting cars used and imposing fees may initially help, but not for too long as the number of cars sold also increases.

Previous reports havev revealed that Beijing plans on collecting congestion fees in some downtown areas, just like in London, to lessen the traffic. But not all advisers were pleased with the idea.

According to Chen Xiaobing, the government failed to tackle the core issue, which is the insufficient number of public transportation system. He also implied congestion fees is not relevant as of the moment.

Adviser Zhu Liang, on the other hand, believes that if the government keeps on banning half of the cars, it will soon become an inconvenience for people.

Beijing, in the past seven years, has enforced plate coding, where cars with plate ending in two different numbers are allowed to ply the road on alternate days. On days where the city is blanketed or engulfed by smog, only fifty percent including taxis, bus or any public transportation are permitted on the road.

Recently, taxi-hailing app Didi Dache revealed that as much as 7,972 yuan ($1,212) is wasted per person due to traffic flux. Also, it found that commuters spend 52 minutes for a 19.2 daily trip from home to office, the longest travelling time compared with other cities.

Tagstraffic jam, traffic congestion, china, Beijing