Car Free Day with Chinese characteristics

Posted by stephen - 23/09/09 at 12:09:40 am

Car free days, where motorists are encouraged to leave their cars at home and use public transportation for the day, are popular in the west. How effective they are is debatable, but a lot of Asian cities with growing congestion and pollution problems due to a flood of new cars on the roads (including Shanghai, which had approximately 24,600 cars on the road in 1999 vs. 2.1 million on the road in 2007) have adopted the idea.

Unfortunately, this year’s Car Free Day in Shanghai could hardly be called a success.

First, instead of a full day ban on private cars, it was actually just limited to two and a half hours. Second, the ban was limited to only a few blocks around Nanjing West Road. Finally, the city didn’t properly inform the public, so nobody knew about the ban.

The result: angry motorists all along Nanjing West Rd. idling in a massive traffic jam which, ironically, caused more congestion (and probably pollution) than you would see on an average day.

September 23, 2009 | In China, Other | No Comments

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