Rambling 'Round
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Tim W
What has the Chinese government done to limit the vehicular and other pollution ...
embedsri
My latest response to the power outage in North India: ...
The quiet defiance of the Beijing motorist
Junko Yoshida
8/6/2012 12:43 PM EDT
The rigidity of Chinese government’s control over people’s lives is well documented. Many foreign observers (including myself), however, often naively assume that people in China are equally rigid about complying with government rules.
Not so much. Unlike Japanese who generally take comfort in following rules en masse, the Chinese – I mean those who are not bureaucrats – seem to take a certain pride, and pleasure, in thinking on their feet. They surprised me with the ways they’ve devised to evade what they perceive as over-regulation.
Look no further than Beijing’s [failed] traffic
Beijing authorities came up with a rolling schedule that prohibits certain cars, on any given weekday, from being on the road. Those cars are determined by the final two digits on license plates. The restriction was introduced prior to Beijing’s 2008 Olympic Games – exactly four years ago. The mission was clear: the government needed to control the terrible pollution over the city, pronto, before foreign visitors showed up for the Olympic Games and started coughing.
It remains unclear the effectiveness of such a measure as a quick fix to the city’s polluted air. But Beijing authorities kept the road restriction – originally pitched to their citizens only as a temporary measure -- long after the Olympics was over. It remains in effect today.
Nonetheless, it’s not uncommon to see Beijing residents intentionally defying the rule, blithely – or stubbornly -- driving along on days when their vehicles should be tucked into a parking space.
“Sure, I would have to pay a fine for the violation,” said a friend living in Beijing. But she pointed out that the hassle of finding a parking spot (“believe me, it’s hard to find”) and then paying hefty fees for a 24-hour stretch in one spot comes down to roughly the same cost as the fine.
I asked, why not take the subway? She looked long and hard at me, conveying the clear message that I didn’t know what I was talking about. “The connections of intersecting [subway] lines are preposterous. You end up walking miles to get from one end of the stop to another end at the same station.”
Of course, there’s another, better way to defy the rule. Buy another car. Indeed, Beijing residents are becoming two-car households purely to avoid the dual inconveniences of public transportation and once-a-week driving bans. So, in a grand illustration of the Law of Unintended Consequences, a bureaucratic brainstorm intended to reduce the number of cars on the road has the potential to double the cars on the road.
The good news is that there are consumers in Beijing today who can actually afford two cars. Some even stockpile multiple cars.
The bad news, however, is the unintended consequence. Road restrictions originally designed to remove a fifth of private cars from roads each weekday have been offset by 250,000 new cars that hit the city streets in the first four months of 2010, according to a New York Times article published two years ago.
It’s not like Beijing authorities can’t see that their ambitious plan is not working. They get it. But instead of choosing to invest in better bus services or more convenient connections for subway lines, they’re still sticking to their guns and insisting that citizens stop cheating. Whether this is a sign that they believe in the power of persuasion, or that they’re just stubborn, the odds are that, eventually, they’ll give up, move on and develop a pollution plan that actually works.
Meanwhile, people in China are resilient – and more creative than we think. They’ll find a way to get around the system. That quiet dissidence, or imaginative stubbornness, might be the real key to China’s future.
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ReneCardenas
8/6/2012 4:06 PM EDT
Hi Junko,
This attitude exist in other socialist countries with heavy population, I am sure you may have heard that Mexico city has poor air circulation due its placement on a low-geological formation, and the smog tends to linger in the metropolitan area.
So the state government attempted to curtail private traffic, and also encouraged the use of mass transit, with similar outcome of “unintended consequences”. Similar scenario to the one you described in this article. The citizens of some means and others that rely on driving for their livelihood, they purchase additional autos, or a second set of license plates under shady terms, to overcome regulation.
So what is the answer for better quality of life?, there is no simple answer, and I sure that it may depend form region to region, but I am sure if state/private enterprises could encourage change to the human traffic patterns, that would accomplish more than limiting the use of private automobiles.
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junko.yoshida
8/7/2012 4:53 PM EDT
There is no simple answer to this problem. Of course, if the government can commit more resources to develop better [and more convenient] mass transit system, it could help.
But it is ironic that whatever "rules" the government comes up with, people will find ways to get around it!
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hm
8/6/2012 7:24 PM EDT
This is also true for country like India. Sometime Government is correct and sometime common people are correct as they do not have other choice.
Can China have more vehicles with CNG to reduce pollution? It is very effective. Also, in near future they can have electric cars like Volt.
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sprite0022
8/6/2012 8:22 PM EDT
ok, I think this explains govt's attitude toward the housing price in Beijing ($5K/m2, or $400,000 for a flat) which is way above average chinese's income.
although govt know it's too high but it plays dumb here to allow it persist, to drive out many new graduates.
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cshore
8/7/2012 6:05 AM EDT
It happened in Sao Paulo too. Banning even-numbered cars one day and odd-numbered cars the next just resulted in everyone who could afford it buying a second car! In order to get round the atrocious traffic, I'm told that SP has one of the highest per-capita ownership of helicopters in the world...
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hellmut.kohlsdorf@hotmail.de
8/7/2012 8:11 AM EDT
Living in Germany I can tell you that a good working public transportation systems makes a car obsolete for daily transportation needs living in the city. So while we have problems with traffic as everywhere, a huge amount of the transportation need is covered by the public transportation system. But when a country of the first world fights against compulsory health insurance for everyone and as a result being the only first world country where the average size of the people decreases from generation to generation, promoting public transportation is meaningless!
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cshore
8/7/2012 8:52 AM EDT
I have asked my American friends and colleagues many times why US cities grew without an adequate public transport infrastructure as compared to the majority of European cities which, by and large, have well developed and efficient public transport.
Answers vary but perhaps it can be explained by the fact that many of the larger US cities are much newer than European ones. Also that explosive urban growth in the US occurred in the latter half of the 20th century when car ownership was high and growing, driven by post-war US industry.
It is a (sad?) fact that it is almost certainly too late for US cities to retro-fit the same kind of infrastructure which is seen elsewhere.
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george.leopold
8/7/2012 9:24 AM EDT
Southern California once had an extensive light rail system. It was torn up and replaced by freeways. We've been reaping the "benefits" ever since.
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cshore
8/7/2012 9:32 AM EDT
Then again, you could look up "Great American Streetcar Scandal" in wikipedia for conspiracy theory about it...
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hellmut.kohlsdorf@hotmail.de
8/7/2012 9:36 AM EDT
I do consider mysself a Fan of the US and do appreciate the kindness of its people. From a more intellectual perspective i do appreciate the contribution to the world in the last century in helping to enforde the rights and protection of the individual person.
having said this I feel sad to see so many things failing in the USA, visible as I mentioned above by the decrease of the heigth of people in the USA! From the english it was said that their principle was divide and conquer. Today the impression of the USA is keep your people ignorant, wrongly informed and badly educated and it gets easy to rule them.
I believe that today the press in the USA is unable to do what was done with the watergate case many years ago. Its people being educated at school to believe that earth was build in 6 days just a couple of thousand years ago. The whole tea party and republican politics is an expression of it. Once the money for the military force can´t be paid anymore, the day will come when the US ruled rating agency have to face that the structural problems in the USA are bigger than those of the Euro zone, same applies for the debt, the bill will be presented making it impossible to keep that military force. To end up, by the pressure being put on the Euro zone Europe will benefit from adapting its structures, improve its competitivity, which will make the situation for the USA even worse.
i repeat, I am a big fan of the USA and as a frined I am very, very worried. This can unfortunately also bee seen in the engineering comunity when I read here i.e. about the electrical vehicles.
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AMSURF
8/7/2012 5:02 PM EDT
What in the heck are you talking about? Have you ever been to the US. Your point of view is absurd!
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hellmut.kohlsdorf@hotmail.de
8/7/2012 5:09 PM EDT
Thanks AMSURF for delivering the proof of what I wrote. I admire your corage!
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stuart.yaniger
8/8/2012 6:07 AM EDT
Helmut, you might look up the word "demographics" in the dictionary. Then reflect on how those have changed in the US and in what way.
I'm particularly amused because of the common Euro-elite accusation that Americans are too big!
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hellmut.kohlsdorf@hotmail.de
8/7/2012 9:42 AM EDT
@cshore: Very interesting entry in wikipedia. I did not know about this! Thanks!
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abraxalito
8/8/2012 1:16 AM EDT
I'm not sure that 'defiance' is quite the right word here to describe what's going on. Its gaming the system, which is practically a national pastime in China, requiring constant innovation and creative adaptation.
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embedsri
8/8/2012 8:45 AM EDT
Hi Junko,
What about my defiance?
1. Showed a finger to the local politicians by ensuring that our office Prevas India was open during the Bandh.
2. Wrote a song to protest the violence.
3. After being run down by a truck, suing the truck owner + continuing to work with Bangalore traffic police to ensure that the rule prohibiting trucks into this fine city is NEVER broken again!!!
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embedsri
8/8/2012 8:47 AM EDT
Also, a satire to the New Delhi Danish consulate who delayed by visa processing and did not allow me to reach Denmark in time.
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embedsri
8/8/2012 8:48 AM EDT
My latest response to the power outage in North India: http://soundcloud.com/user504030772/sriram-power-where-r-you/s-jxK8g
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Tim W
8/16/2012 3:16 PM EDT
What has the Chinese government done to limit the vehicular and other pollution at the sources? Do the lower cost vehicles have any emissions controls? Are there ANY pollution controls that are enforced? These aren't rhetorical questions; I truly don't know.
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