Cars choking Beijing. Solution. Free buses.

Beijing Symposium Shares International Experience in Urban Transport Development: "Guo Jifu, Director of BTRC, initiated the discussion by illustrating the following four transport challenges faced by Beijing, as registered vehicles in the megacity reached 5.2 million in 2012 and its metro system carries 10 million passengers per day.

• Low efficiency of road utilization and severe congestion
• Inadequate public transport capacity
• Funding gap for infrastructure development
• Difficulty in raising public awareness and gaining social acceptance to promote innovative solutions and reforms."

Attention Mr. Guo, make it free and you will get the attention of the public. Do you remember Guangzhou during the Asia games? http://farefreechina.blogspot.tw/2010/12/guangzhou-experience-proves-people-want.html

South Korean city abandons cars for one month

DW 30.08.2013: "In an effort to encourage residents onto public transport, one South Korean city is asking its residents to go car-free for a month. As one of the organizers explains, the project is meant to have a long lasting effect."

Beijing's public transportation needs improvement

chinadaily.com.cn: " there is a far from sufficient number of public buses. In some newly constructed neighborhoods, there is still no bus line and a new service called "lady motorpad" has emerged, with women driving passengers to and from subway stations that are a long way to walk to and from."

'via Blog this'

Climate change. Three meters of water in Shantou. Time to rethink cars.

This picture taken on August 19, 2013 shows residents travelling on boats and rafts down a flooded street in Shantou, in southern China's Guangdong province. Picture: AFP

Gallery: China floods death toll passes 100 | eNCA: "Flooding in the northeast which left 72 people dead was described as "the worst in decades" by state news agency Xinhua, while another 33 people died in the south as a result of the weather, it said citing the ministry of civil affairs."