Chris Drumgoole

I had my first almost run-in with a Beijing Traffic cop this morning.

In the almost 5 years I’ve been riding my motorbike through Beijing, I have enjoyed an almost-invincibility / invisibility from the traffic police. Sure, I’ve heard stories of foreigners being stopped (driving either cars or motorbikes) by traffic cops for one thing or another, but usually playing the old “sorry, I don’t speak Chinese” trick was enough to get out of it.

I have seen many times when coming up to an intersection with cops directing traffic or conducting random checks on passing vehicles, the cop would slightly turn a bit so he and I would not lock eyes, thus letting me pass by.

Why were foreigners seemingly treated differently than the locals? Was it that the traffic police just didn’t care? Was it unofficial / unwritten policy to let us be? Was it a lack of confidence in their English capabilities? (because you know that the foreigner, whether he speaks Chinese or not, he won’t say a word in Chinese if he knows what’s good for him!)

Whatever the real reason, I didn’t care as it turned out to be an advantage.

The Incident

One of my normal routes to get the office in the mornings is to get onto the 2nd Ring Road at the Guangqumen bridge, drive North a bit, then get on the East-to-West expressway Tonghuihe to 4th Ring Road, then drive north ’til Dashanzi - then take surface roads the remainder of the way to the office.

(Now, as an aside, a quick reminder for those who don’t know. Officially, motorbikes, like what I drive, aren’t allowed on the Ring Roads/Expressways. I can’t count how many times cops have seen me but turn a blind eye. Yes, I know that doesn’t make driving on them right, at least, according to the law… I digress… )

This morning was no different. 2nd ring road was packed with traffic - but as I would only be on it for 400 meters before getting on the speedy Tonghuihe, it was worth the 5 minutes of mental anguish.

As I was getting onto 2nd Ring from the entrance ramp, the traffic cop who was at that entrance saw me, pointed at me, and told me to go to the side! Shit! (My papers/tax/inspection aren’t exactly up to date - something I’ve been meaning to fix) .

I stop, and wait for him to approach me. After a minute, he comes to me, points at the road (2nd ring), and says “No”, while shaking his head a bit. Then he points up the entrance ramp where I came from, motioned for me to follow him (he directed me against traffic, so he wanted it to look “official” I guess), and I did, and I drove away.

Whew!

O.K., so that could have had a few different results, but I am certainly happy with the result I had. The only annoying thing now is that route is clearly off limits, at least during morning rush hour, as I am sure that if he sees me again attempting the same shenanigans, I won’t get off as easily as I did today.

Darn the Olympics / social & economic progress / shitty city planners / “we must have a car” new middle class.

Beijing just isn’t the same anymore…

I started with my 2nd speech at Toastmasters to post the speech I presented on my Website. Last night, I presented my 3rd speech. The topic was in regards to Beijing Traffic - I presented some ideas on how Beijing could improve what is becoming a disaster.

As a disclaimer, I am not an expert in the field of traffic management, nor have I studied the ideas presented in my speech. I’ve only experienced first hand the degrading state of Beijing’s traffic over the last 5 years, primarily as a driver, but also user of the public transit system. And I’ve only experienced bits and pieces of these ideas in different cities around the world (as specified in the speech) and have mostly liked what I’ve seen. Also, this is a 7-minute speech, so I couldn’t go into a lot of detail… I could speak for hours on this topic…

And here it is… (comments please!)

Unless you’re lucky enough to live within walking distance of your office or school, I am sure you all experience the daily grind of transit during rush hour. Roads are chalk full of cars. The subway system is not expansive enough. Buses are overcrowded… And it’s getting worse every day!

I am going to present you with my “4-Point Plan for Traffic Harmony”. These strategies are used by several cities worldwide and I see no reason why they can’t be implemented here in Beijing!

1. Curb Auto-sales by instituting a license plate quota system

1,000 new cars enter the Beijing road system every day. That’s about 360,000 new cars a year. Beijing already has over 3 million cars – with the road system already swelled, new measures must be taken immediately to slow the car population explosion.

Cities like Shanghai and Singapore have a type of vehicle bidding system where the city places a limit on the number of new cars allowed each year. For example, Singapore imposes a limit of 3% of the current number of cars. The price of purchasing a license will depend on market demands. The price goes higher as more bids are made. People ask themselves “Do I really need a car?”

2. Introduce Congestion Zones

Singapore and London are two examples of cities who have instituted downtown congestion zone fees. Each car is equipped with a device and stored-value card and each road entering the zone has overhead sensors that, as cars pass under, deducts an amount of money from the car’s stored-value card. This follows the “pay-for-use” concept and those who contribute to congestion more end up paying more. This added fee will encourage drivers to think of alternative routes or transportation methods, or provide them with a smoother ride should they decide to pay the fee.

3. Introduce Public Light Buses

Part of the problem that causes congestion on major roads is the high number of large buses. These large buses are slow, especially when accelerating. Hong Kong has an excellent bus system that combines large and small buses, called “Public Light Buses”. These are small buses that only hold 18 people and generally follow a shorter route than their larger counterparts. And because they are small, they are able to drive faster. Beijing can add several thousand of these to the roads, also creating new routes in the process. Passengers will also enjoy greater comfort while traveling due to the 18 pax limit.

4. Introduce Carpool Lanes

Beijing already has many bus lanes where access for normal vehicles is controlled by time of day. The city can take this one step further by introducing “car pool lanes”. The idea is cars can only drive in these lanes if they have 2 or more people in them. It would make sense to add these to major roads such as ring roads, boulevards, and expressways. This has the added benefit of discouraging single drivers.

To wrap up, I have presented 4 points that will no doubt greatly improve the city’s traffic situation. They are:

1. Curb Auto-sales by instituting a license plate quota system
2. Introduce Congestion Zones
3. Introduce Public Light Buses
4. Introduce Carpool Lanes

I am confident that with implementing all 4 points swiftly, we could see a real change in the traffic situation for the better, and we won’t have to wait until 2012 when the current Subway expansion plan is realized.

You all now need to go out and petition the Beijing Traffic Bureau to implement these points at once!

I tried to add a little humor to keep the audience interested, and I seemed to have gotten good response. Obviously I didn’t give the speech word for word - I actually, while on stage, changed the intro and made it a story instead of just dry commentary.  I also made the ending a bit more dramatic.  I’m such a dramatic person…