Staggered working hour schedule slightly improves rush hour traffic in Beijing

Public servants from central state organs said subway trains are still very crowded

Ms. Bai, a public servant from a central state organ said they have not been urged to stagger their office hours this time. At 7 a.m. on April 12, she left home and headed for her office located at Zhushikou Street. As usual, she first used Subway line 1 and 5, and then took a bus. According to Bai, "Subway trains and buses are still very crowded in the morning." At 6 p.m., she left her office. When getting on the subway again, Bai immediately found herself surrounded by even more passengers.

Parents face dilemmas

Mr. Wang works at a municipal government organ. He used to leave home with his wife and daughter at 7 a.m. every day, and arrived at his office at about 8 a.m. after driving his wife and daughter to their office and school. On April 12, Wang left home at 7 a.m. as usual, despite the fact that his work day now started at 9 a.m. Because his daughter still had the same start time for school, Wang had to drive his daughter as early as before and arrived at the office at 8 a.m. After getting to the office, Wang sat idly for one hour.

His daughter will soon attend the Senior High School Entrance Examination. For her, classes are still over at 5 p.m. In the past, Wang left his office at 5:30 p.m. and then picked up his wife and daughter to go home. "After the new system goes into effect, my daughter has to wait for me at school and I cannot pick her up until 6 p.m. We will have to eat supper at 8 p.m."

A doctor said traffic is much lighter in Baishiqiao during nights

Generally speaking, hospitals have not been included into the staggered working hours system and most hospitals still open at 8 a.m. Mrs. Hu works at Renmin Hospital of Beijing and left work at 5 p.m. on April 12. After leaving the hospital, Hu drove to Beijing 101 Middle School to pick up her child. As most people working at public institutions now leave their offices at 5:30 p.m., traffic on the streets was very light. "Traffic was usually very heavy in Baishiqiao in the past, but it was quite light yesterday," said Hu. It only took her 20 minutes, 10 minutes less than before, to get from Renmin Hospital to Beijing 101 Middle School through some places well-known for traffic congestion such as Baishiqiao and Suzhouqiao.