China to cough up for congestion
2010-12-14 07:27
TRAFFIC JAM: New vehicle sales in China are on track to hit 17 million units for 2010.
Beijing, China - Drivers in China's capital Beijing may have to pay to drive their cars in the near future as measures to fight ever-wrosening raffic chaos start to bite.
China is now the world's biggest car sale room and traffic exhaust has become a hazard in major Chinese cities. By 2012 Beijing will cet contain seven-million vehicles, a sharp rise from the 4.7-million of 2010, according to the National Business Daily, which added that municipal sources said the use-based toll would be only one of a series of measures to reduce traffic congestion.
R30 000 TOLL PER CAR
Others could mean each Beijing resident being allowed to buy only one car and non-Beijing residents being required to own an apartment and have a parking permit before being allowed to buy.
Nothing is official yet but Beijing transportn authorities may release a draft rule and solicity public opinion.
Shanghai, some years ago, ordered that car owners pay a fee equivalent to about R30 000 for each car owned.
14.7-million vehicles have been sold in China up to the end of October, 2010. The year's total could exceed 17-million.
