Focus
New hours upset public workers ...
By Meng Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-26 08:12
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 Beijing's roads continue to choke as the city struggles to cope with an increasing number of vehicles and commuters. [Cheng Ning / for China Daily] |
More than 800,000 employees - and their families - are affected by a half-hour delay in the start to their workday
Liu Ying, a civil servant in Chongwen district, hasn't eaten dinner with her parents during the weekday since April 12, the day 800,000 office workers employed by the Beijing government started and ended work 30 minutes later in an attempt to alleviate rush-hour congestion.
Liu, not her real name, said as she now works from 9 am to 6 pm instead of 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, she usually arrives home at about 7 pm.
"When I get home, my parents would have finished their dinner," said Liu, 24. "It sucks to eat by myself every evening."
What's worse, Liu is also affected at the start of the day. Though she starts work 30 minutes later, she has to leave home at the same time to arrive at the office on time.
"It takes 20 more minutes to commute in the morning. I don't know other people's situation, but traffic conditions to work is definitely worse," she said, adding she has less time left for herself since the new times were introduced.
The new work times do not directly affect the majority of the public and private sector employees in the city, who may start work as early as 8 am or as late as 9:30 am.
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Liu is not the only one who is suffering. Though 800,000 seems small compared with Beijing's 18 million residents, many family members of the employees are affected.
Many said they are having difficulties taking their children to school and picking them up as school starts at 8 am and ends before 5 pm.
A woman surnamed Jia said she has no idea how to spend the time after sending her daughter to school at 7:45 am.
"My husband and I work for the government, so neither of us can pick up our daughter after school," Jia said.
"We have signed her in for an after-school class so that she can stay there a little longer."
In spite of the inconvenience many have endured in the past two weeks, authorities are optimistic about the outcome of the policy.
Latest statistics from the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau shows traffic conditions during the rush hours between April 12 and 16 has improved.
Average driving speeds on ring roads and major arterial routes have been increased by 4.2 percent while roads that are jammed have been reduced by 11 percent.
Guo Jifu, director of the government-funded Beijing Transportation Research Center, told METRO the new policy aims to move some commuters out of the rush-hour peak to relieve congestion.
"In the past two weeks, the policy has eased the traffic pressure on peak times and extended the rush hour by about 15 minutes," Guo said.
"Some people may find it more jammed in some areas, while some may feel inconvenient due to the change of their schedule.
"But all public policies have to sacrifice the interest of a minority number of people."
Guo said it takes long time to improve the public transportation system and it will take even longer to improve the urban planning in Beijing.
"The adjusted work hour policy can offer a quick solution," he said, adding that Beijing's traffic conditions is struggling to cope with an increasing number of commuters and vehicles.
However, there are doubts the policy's effect can not be sustained as long as the number of cars in Beijing keeps increasing.
Statistics from the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau show there are now 4.28 million cars on the roads in the city, and is increasing by about 17,000 a week.
Wu Yong'an, a taxi driver from Jinyinjian Taxi Company, said traffic flow in the capital since the policy came out has improved slightly, but he is afraid its effect will soon be undermined as more and more cars are bought.
Wu said the most effective measure on congestion was the odd-even license number restrictions used during the Beijing Olympics.
"The number of cars was halved during those days. But it couldn't last forever, because car owners will not allow that," said Wu, who has been driving cabs for 10 years.
Wu said that when he first started to drive a taxi he needed to work only 8 hours a day. But he now has to work from 5 am to 5 pm to earn the same amount as he used to.
"If the traffic flow is good, we can pick up three different passengers in one hour," he said.
"But in a city which traffic is as jammed as in Beijing, it totally depends on good luck to be able to transport one passenger to his or her destination in one hour."
He said ome passengers would leave and change to subways in the middle of a jam, causing more financial losses to drivers.
Jia Yuanhua, a transportation professor at Beijing Jiaotong University, expressed the same concern, believing Beijing's traffic problem roots in the huge number of cars.
The only action that can relieve the pressure is to control the number of vehicles on the road, he said.
He believed the government would not restrict the purchase of cars because the industry generates huge profit, and the taxes generated.
"We have to take the traffic capacity into consideration. Though the auto era is very appealing, we need to realize Beijing is a city that cannot afford that kind of lifestyle," he said.
Jia is also concerned Auto China 2010, being held at the China International Exhibition Center, may also entice more people to buy more cars once they see the fancy new cars.
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 Heavy traffic during the morning peak is part and parcel of the city's commuting life. [Cheng Ning / for China Daily] |
