Increasing Cars Problem in China - Essay Example

Investments in non-motorised modes of urban transport: A solution to increasing cars problem in China "More than 2 million passenger cars were sold in China last year, an increase of more than 80 percent from the year before, according to the State Information Centre. China is now the single fastest-growing auto market in the world, and the second largest in Asia after Japan." (Goodman, A01) The increase in the number of auto mobiles is not a problem itself but the problem lies in the fact that as the income of the urban people increase the number of vehicles also increase with the same proportion but the roads, parking areas and fuel supply do not increase with the same proportion. Since the increase of number of vehicles is the only factors involved in the increase in income of the population. But the increase in the road length is dependent upon many economical, political and social factors. This difference makes the pace of development to accommodate this increase in no of automobiles slow and hence the blessing of owning private transportation becomes curse. The case presented is the same as most of the cities in China are facing. "Traffic congestion is getting worse in the cities. There is an increase in commuting because of the wider spread of land use and people no longer live next to their workplaces. However, the transport system is not growing fast enough to cope with the increase in passengers and motor vehicles. There is inadequate provision of roads, together with a shortage of traffic control systems and facilities." (Lo and Yeung) According to an estimate stated in an article by Howard, "China accounts for about 12 percent of the world's energy demand, but its consumption is growing at more than four times the global rate, sending Chinese oil company executives on an increasingly frantic search for overseas supplies. The country's top environmental officials have warned of ecological and economic doom if China continues to follow this pattern." (p. 4) "The rise of the auto also threatens to add another major source of greenhouse gas emissions, those believed to underlie the problem of global warming, to a world already struggling to limit the threat. China is now the second-largest source of such pollution after the United States. Over the next three decades, China's increase in gas emissions is expected to nearly equal the total of all industrial countries, according to the International Energy Agency." (Goodman, A01) The conditions are even worse in the non-coastal areas where the resources to cope up the situation are also scarce. A significant no of studies has been undertaken in order to study the problems which are arising due to this increase in the number of vehicles. Lack of Roads: The roads in these cities are in sufficient to accommodate the vehicles. Some of the roads are overcrowded and congested due to the lack of management. The use of bicycles and motorcycles on these overburdened roads increase the no of accidents. On the other hand buses cannot also be used to serve the purpose due to the lack of accommodation and schedules lag. In efficient Rail Transport systems: In most of these cities the rail transport system is available in the regions where they cannot serve the purpose of reducing the traffic on the congested roads. Even in some regions the no. of passengers using the rail transportation is very low. Lack of integration: The system lacks integration among the different travel modes within the public transportation system. Environmental problems: The emission of the poisonous gases is worsening the environmental conditions. The air is getting polluted. Noise pollution from the motorcycles also adds to the negative effects. (Source: Lu Ximing, Shanghai City Comprehensive Transportation Planning Institute) The government is taking keen interest in solving these problems resulting due to the increase in automobiles. Most of the cities have elaborate and comprehensive master plans, which are used to guide long-term developments. The most important point, which needs to be addressed, is the short-term solution of these problems. Like most of the countries in the world the Government of China is investing in the transportation projects which can achieve the goals of clean energy and environmental protection. This can be achieved by the development of transportation means, which are free of every type of pollution i.e. noise pollution, air pollution etc. Transit services can be used in areas where the population is clustered in a few concentrated urban cores. This population trend results in very high population density. In these densely populated areas the bus transit and subway systems can be used. Urban planners in China favouring the auto preference policy are trying to plan strategies in order to reduce the population density of these areas by reallocating the residents of these areas. (Liu & Guan, 64- 65) The application of these policies is hindering the effective planning for the implementation of transit services and in turn increasing the cost of these systems. This is a big obstacle especially for the smaller cities located in the non-coastal areas of China. Another solution, which can be implemented, as have been implemented in many developed countries is to use diversified energy sources to decrease reliance on petroleum and reduce oil consumption. Electric power can be used in China since it can be easily generated through using coal and natural gas nuclear power, tidal power etc. This can solve the problem of the Oil shortage and the emission of gases creating pollution. Hence in the cities where there is abundance of resources electric vehicles, rails and maglev trains can be effectively used as the solution of the problems facing these cities due to the increase in the number of cars. Increasing the speed of rails can reduce the economic loss facing these cities due to the traffic jams in shape of time loss. Till 2005 China had planned to invest 880 million-Yuan in the electric vehicle projects. These include vehicles relying on batteries and fuel cell engines etc. The year 2002 seen some achievements in the big cities with the help of Government funding and participation of business organisations (Stickland, 18-20). Much of work has been done on the development of fuel cell engine in order to make it compatible according to the power rating and the level required for system automation. The construction of Shanghai Pearl Line has made malgev train an important and feasible solution due to its high speed increased capacity and low space occupation. China has the plans to build approximately 8,000 km of high-speed passenger transport network. (Bringinshaw, 23) For big and densely populated cities like Shanghai and Beijing high speed malgev trains can serve the purpose best. The reasons to support the malgev train include: The high-speed malgev trains can improve the connectivity between the cities in reduced time. By the use of malgev trains in the important cities like Shanghai and Beijing the technology can be promoted all over China in the heavily populated cities reducing the demand for oil a scarce resource. The implementation of malgev system will help in the development of rest of the small cities of China by transforming them in to industrialised cities. This will be possible when these cities will also be connected with the big cities. By producing little noise and consuming less energy the malgev train shows high performance in solving the pollution problems. With so many provisions available and resources it is easier for the Government to plan and implement strategies for the increasing congestion problems. The magnitude of the problem increases in the case of the small cities where the Government cannot afford to spend much of its resources since the main industrialised cities are the first priority for the Government. In the small cities the most important strategy which can solve the problem is the development of the NMT policies at governmental level. The Government should establish NMT strategies at national level. So that while planning the NMT policies the connection between all the stakeholders can be established successfully in order to make these policies effective. The establishment of NMT policies at national level will provide the related departments with the direction to work in order to maximise the benefits attached to these policies. A continuous debate is undertaken for all the Governmental programs and strategies. Designing the NMT policies at national level will provide a common platform for discussing the differences in the interests of different departments and will help in finding the ways to co-ordinate the efforts and strategies of different departments. This will also help in undertaking urban planning with integration of other activities such as land development plans, traffic management schemes, road design, road maintenance and traffic safety programs. (Guitink) Appropriate Role for NMT "A. Depending upon incomes, city size, population, urban densities and the availability of public transport at affordable prices, there are appropriate roles for both the MVs and NMT. The most sustainable city would be the one where the number of required MV trips can be kept at a minimum, and where most trips can be made by environment friendly modes such as walking and bicycling. This approach has to be tempered by the peak hour volumes, available road space, and length of trips, climate, topography and ability of the population to pay for high level of services. B. This approach requires a careful, systematic and dynamic balancing of all three components of sustainability: Economic, Environmental and Social. It will require the inclusion, encouragement, and fullest use of NMT in every step of urban transport policy formulation, planning, investment decisions and regulation. This should be done within the framework of total cost accounting, including all external costs. Such an approach will produce an environment friendly transport system that is economically efficient and socially sustainable. Serious consideration for the plight of the poor in relation to trip lengths, modes and costs should be mandatory. The end product will have to be a combination of all modes, with an appropriate fit into the system as a whole. C. The new paradigm demands a complete overhaul of the currently used conceptual and analytical bases of transport policy and planning, which have been in vogue since the late sixties. These methods have become obsolete as we have gained more knowledge about social disruption, air pollution, mobility and accessibility, and more importantly the overall consequences of automobile dependence." (Pendakur) The Government of China should include all the horizontal and vertical aspects while planning for the transport problem of small cities. Other solutions, which can effectively address the problem of increased traffic in city centres, include high yield options such as implementing special motorway tolls and parking charges. The revenue generated through these schemes can be used in the progress of the transport scheme in these cities. Another way is to create pedestrian way through which MVs cannot drive cross. The implementation of information technology in shape of intelligent transport system can also provide help by helping drivers in selecting the routes with least travel time and congestion. The continuous knowledge and updates on traffic conditions through online information help drivers to switch to the fast tracks and least congested routes. Car sharing is another important solution the car shaming companies provide the people with economical auto rental facility. The provision of the facility enables the families to use the car for specific occasions, rather than owning them. Large capacity buses can also be considered. These buses have big doors to facilitate entry and exit. The passengers pay the fare when they enter the bus. The Government needs to take effective measures in order to encourage transit system since there is no system present in the small cities. With the growing automation and increasing congestion the transit rider ship in big cities like Shanghai is dropping. The Government should introduce monthly pass system, which will not only facilitate the rider but also will also generate income for Government and keep the riders loyal to the mode. The provision of facilities in shape of good transit services, economical fares and awareness creation in the masses can improve the number of riders in the transit services. (Chinese Academy of Engineering) "Various cities have been trying to improve the capacity of their transit systems. For example, in Beijing, 54 new surface transit routes were added and 98 routes were modified or expanded in 2001. Beijing Bus Corporation 2002: Ridership for bus, minibus, trolleys, and metro reached 4.4 billion, 7% increases over the year 2000. However, the overall transit share dropped from 31% in 1986 to 22% in the year 2000, as presented in Fig. 7. It is tempting to assume that travellers have migrated into newer modes with higher speed, such as private automobiles and taxis. (Liu & Guan, 65) It is estimated that households with no access to any kind of MVs will decrease from 93% to 85% by the year 2010. In 1995, only 5% of the households owned a MC and this is likely to increase to 12%. The households owning a MV will increase from 2.4% to 2.8% by 2010. These are substantial increases considering the population size of China. Yet, even with all these increases, 85% of the households will have to depend upon NMT and Public Transport. (Pendakur) In most of the small cities and towns where the Non motorised transport can be effectively used the lack of planning on the part of Government is giving rise to traffic congestion problem. The Government should undertake effective planing measures in order to integrate NMT into the transport and land planning. The effectiveness of NMT can be enhanced by encouragement of NMT by the Government by planning the road designs while keeping in view NMT as a traffic component. This will also help in reducing the number of accidents. The traffic legislation of China should take into account NMT as a fully-fledged transport mode. (Guitink) According to Martin No available means of transportation can meet the future mobility requirements in high quality level alone, even with a hypothetical reduction of predicted traffic growth rates. Therefore, improvement of effectiveness of the transportation systems, in particular the inter-modal connection from "Networks for Mobility" is an extremely important task of transportation research (p.137) Hence in order to plan effectively for the problems and issues six planning and design criteria should be taken into consideration as recommended by (Lai, Charles & Jeffery: p.07) 1) People not vehicles are the number one priority. 2) Efficient cross border operations must be maintained all the time. 3) Separation of people and vehicles must be maintained for operational efficiency and safety. 4) Inter-modal transfers should be provided in a safe and convenient fashion. 5) ITS technologies should be integrated into the design to provide better quality of travel. 6) A compatible urban setting should be created. References/Bibliography Bringinshaw, D. " Shanghai sets its sights on a 780 km Network" International Railway Journal, 42.5, (2002): 20-32 Chinese Academy of Engineering, "Personal Cars and China", Committee on the Future of Personal Transport Vehicles in China, National Research Council, ISBN: 0-309-08492-X, 280 pages, 6x9, (2003), available at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10491.html Goodman, Peter S., "Car Culture Captivates China; Sales Boom Along With Potential Problems. " The Washington Post, 8 March 2004: A01 Guitink, P., (1996). Strategic Planning for Non-motorised mobility, available at http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTURBANTRANSPORT/Resources/T-OT-4.pdf Guilin, L. "Shanghai Status & Trends in the urban public transport" Public transport International, Special Edition, (2002): 10-11 Howard, French W. "A City's Traffic Plans Are Snarled by China's Car Culture." Shanghai Journal, Foreign Desk; SECTA, The New York Times, Late Edition, (2005): 4 Lai, P, Charles N.G, Jeffery, B I, " Planning and design of integrated multi-modal facilities, A China experience, 17,2 (2002): 6-9. Lo, F, Yeung, Y, Emerging world cities in Pacific Asia: Problems of urban development under the open policy, available at < http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu11ee/uu11ee00.htm#Contents> Martin, U. "Successful Special Development Requires Comprehensive Mobility Represented on an example of a Middle Centre in China". Scientific Technical Journal for traffic theory and practice, 15,3 (2003): 133-140 Pendakur, V. Setty, A Policy Perspective for Sustainable Cities Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) in Asia, available at http://www.ucalgary.ca/EVDS/designresearch/projects/2000/cuc/tp/outreach/setty(transportation).pdf#search='nonmotorized%20modes%20of%20urban%20transport%20in%20china' Rongfang, Rachel Liu, P. E., and Chang-Qian G., "Mode Biases of Urban Transportation Policies in China and Their Implications." Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 131:2, (2005): 58-70 Stickland, R., "Reflections on Urban Transport in China." Smart Urban Transport, 1.4, (2002): 18-20. Sun, Z. " Shanghai Pearl line," Public Transport International, 50,5 (2001): 42-44 Read More