China’s Massive Traffic Jam Shows the Importance of its Rail Expansion

The biggest energy-related news out of China this week has involved transport – the mega-traffic jam in Inner Mongolia, leading to Beijing. After more than ten days, extra police did manage to redirect traffic and clear the jam. While this story has played mainly as a global human interest story with many suggesting visions of futuristic nightmares, the actual causes, well outlined in Shai Oster’s Wall Street Journal blog are far more complex than just the number of vehicles on the road.

It is true that Beijing is approaching, but has not reached, vehicle ownership levels close to Los Angeles (Beijing has 4.4 million total vehicles). According to LA Almanac, Los Angeles is currently at almost 8 million, of which 5.8 million are passenger vehicles. It takes only a moment’s pause to remember that Los Angeles has never had a 10-day jam. Something more than number of vehicles causes this kind of a back-up. The road apparently also had construction problems, and vehicles caught in the construction, but of course construction is also universal.

Most crucially, at the end of the road was an inspection system in Beijing designed to keep out unpermitted vehicles – out-of-town vehicles require special permission to enter Beijing. Beijing imposed this permitting system a decade or so ago to reduce the pressure on its roads. Back in the 1990s one saw fewer cars in Beijing, but they came from all over China. Today the overwhelming number of vehicles on Beijing streets have Beijing license plates. Given the growing use of interprovincial highways, this inspections system appears to be severely taxed.

So what is the solution? If you take a look at the traffic jam (see the video below). You’ll see that for the most part it isn’t cars, it is freight-bearing trucks. Many carry coal, but they also carry all sorts of goods produced in Inner Mongolia, including dairy products and wool. The ongoing expansion of the rail system may help ease up some of this pressure from freight on the roads. Better highway management also needs to be part of the solution.

For more, see our fact sheet ChinaFAQs: China’s Transportation Revolution