Beijing's traffic congestion imposes high economic costs

According to the 2009 Foton Chinese Index for Mobility (FCIM) released by Horizon Research Consultancy Group (Horizon Group) on December 25, Beijing's traffic congestion imposes the highest economic cost among seven Chinese cities.

Research showed that the monthly economic cost of traffic congestion for one single Beijing resident reached 335.6 yuan, topping those of other cities. As for Guangzhou and Shanghai, the cost is 265.9 yuan and 253.6 yuan per month respectively. At the same time, Beijing residents spend more time commuting to work, with the minimum average commuting time reaching 40.1 minutes and the maximum average commuting time reaching 62.3 minutes.

Beijing's traffic congestion imposes high economic costs

A survey showed that between 2008 and 2009, Beijing has been taking various measures to relieve traffic congestion such as optimizing bus lines, developing subway and rail transportation and exercising traffic control. Compared with the situation in 2007, the economic cost of traffic congestion for one single Beijing resident has dropped to 335.6 yuan from 357.0 yuan per month. However, Beijing still encounters the most serious traffic congestion among major Chinese cities, leaving much room for improvement.

According to the FCIM, residents in all seven cities attribute traffic jams to too many motor vehicles. Giving priority to public transportation development has been a consensus. Cities can solve the traffic congestion problem by speeding up urban road construction, developing high-speed public transportation as well as new types of rail and track transportation, optimizing bus networks and increasing the transportation capacity of the public transportation sector.

Reporters learned that Horizon Group polled 1,510 people 16 years of age or above in seven cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Xi'an, Chengdu and Harbin.

Translated by LOTO