Beijing

Beijing, China —Los Angeles, known for its traffic jams, is dwarfed by Beijing’s 14.9 million residents, who are more and more getting a taste of what L.A. experiences on a daily basis. With nearly 15 million people residing in Beijing (approximately 5 times as many people as Los Angeles), it’s only a matter of time before time stands still during rush hour in the city where more cars enter the road on a daily basis than ever before.China need only look to cities such as Los Angeles for cues as to what the future may bring…and perhaps that’s why they are investing between 200 billion yuan ($24.15 billion) and 250 billion yuan ($30.19 billion) by 2010 in an ambitious traffic plan to ease the pressure of traffic and avoid gridlock. With an average 1,000 new motor vehicles added to 2.41 million vehicles on the country’s second most populated city’s streets, the rate will likely increase even faster as bicyclists give up this environmentally-friendly mode of transportation due to increasing safety concerns.In addition, city expansion is contributing to the decline of bicycle riding because new construction has created detours and lengthened the bicycle commute time. In a brief seven years to 2003, the proportion of motor vehicles on city streets nearly doubled to 68% of street traffic. Receiving around 500 traffic complaint calls each day, more than 90 percent of urban roads are in gridlock, much like other urban regions such as L.A.With increased affluence and the desire to own cars, Chinese residents in the future will drive a car to a drop-off spot and then taking public transportation to work or a destination. The Beijing Government plans to build a group of stop-and-transfer stations on main roads, while developing updated bicycles and pedestrians thoroughfares and promenades, hoping not to lose more cyclists. Making use of hutongs, lanes and spur tracks in urban areas, regional bicycle networks and pedestrian systems will be built to enhance and promote a lifestyle that’s been embraced for over a hundred years.For now, it’s not uncommon to see an accident occur daily during your Beijing travels, and it’s especially amazing that there aren’t more as bicyclists, pedestrians and car owners often share the same roads.Source: Beijing ReviewThe green car pictured above, Chery QQ, is a popular spin-off of the GM Chevy Spark which was designed solely for the China market. A GM spokesperson said: “China’s version of our vehicle is such a knockoff that you can pull a door off of the Chevy Spark and it fits on the QQ - and it fits so well that the seals on the door hold.”What cars are popular in China?BEIJING — Economy cars with low emissions were among the best-selling cars in China in the first five months of 2006. Their popularity stems from soaring oil prices and preferential government policies on vehicles with low emissions. Xiali, manufactured by Tianjin FAW and popular for its low energy-consumption, topped the brand sales list, followed by Elantra of Beijing Hyundai. Among the top 10 brands, five of them were cars with low emissions. But there was also a significant leap in the sales of luxury cars with high emissions.Source: China Association of Automobile Manufacturers