Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 9) - Shanghai will continue to implement its policy of auctioning automobile license plates to help combat large-scale traffic congestion, said the city's vice mayor Shen Jun today. Meanwhile, Mr. Shen stated that Shanghai will strengthen controls on vehicles registered outside of the city from using its elevated roads during rush hour periods.
Mr. Shen confessed that despite constant introduction of new policies combating traffic congestion, Shanghai is still very prone to large-scale traffic jams. "All large cities will encounter these types of traffic problems," he said. "We will implement policies to temporarily delay [said] effects, then we will try our best to come up with a solution to get rid of the problem."
According to recent statistics, Shanghai currently has approximately 1.7 million vehicles on its roads, while Beijing has 4.6 million. Mr. Shen believes the reason for Shanghai having significantly less cars then its fellow metropolis is due to its license plate auctioning rules, stating that the city will "still support" the policy.
Because of the license plate system, several Shanghai residents have chosen to register their cars outside of the city. In response, Shanghai is currently researching policies to tackle this issue. Mr. Shen said that Shanghai was currently researching implementing methods similar to those used in Beijing. Cars registered outside of Beijing are prohibited from driving on the city's ring roads during peak traffic hours in the morning and evening. Huang Rong, director of the Shanghai Urban Construction and Transportation Commission, confirmed the claim, adding that the city has not cast aside the possibility of expanding on such policies.
