Despite a series of measures taken by authorities in Beijing to ease traffic problems in the capital, wardens are still facing a tough challenge.

And it comes from both drivers and pedestrians.

On a bitterly cold morning last month, traffic warden Zhao Chengzhi watched as a driver ran a red light and ignored his directions at a crossroads near Guanyuan Bridge in Xicheng district.

"It is very hard for me to direct those people who don't listen to you," Zhao said.

He added that some people even shout at wardens who ask them to obey traffic rules and not to run red lights.

His colleague, working on the opposite side of the junction, said more people are beginning to understand their work, but during rush hours they were still being ignored.

Official figures show the capital has more than 7,100 traffic wardens, who play an important role in maintaining order on the roads and in reporting traffic accidents to the police.

The leader of Zhao's team in the Guanyuan Bridge area, who did not want to give his name, said the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau had very detailed requirements for them, and told wardens to be strict when directing traffic. But he said it is not easy when many people do not obey lights, especially migrant workers unfamiliar with traffic rules.

The Beijing Public Security Bureau announced on Dec 6 a campaign from December to March aimed at solving nine types of problems involving traffic, security and the environment.

It is forming working teams, with each one consisting of two traffic wardens, a traffic police officer, an urban management officer and a community police officer.

To counter jaywalking, traffic police have begun to fine pedestrians. On Dec 11, at a junction in Huizhong Road in Chaoyang district, 19 pedestrians were each fined 10 yuan ($1.6) for jaywalking, according to a report on people.com.cn.

A bus driver said jaywalkers should be fined because sometimes they caused traffic jams.

Liu Rui, 60, a Beijing resident, said the punishment should be applied to all jaywalkers because everyone should obey the traffic rules.

The campaign follows recent heated debate online about the "Chinese style of crossing the road", a term referring to the tendency of large numbers of people to ignore red lights.

A China Central Television news program in October featured video footage showing more than 600 people ignoring red lights for more than an hour at a junction in Shijiazhuang, capital of North China's Hebei province.

An increasing number of cities have begun to tackle the problem. In Shijiazhuang, the local government launched a two-month campaign at the end of October, stipulating that jaywalkers could be fined as much as 50 yuan.

Authorities in the city said that when large numbers of pedestrians cross major intersections in defiance of red lights, the first three will be fined. At smaller intersections, all jaywalkers will be punished, according to a Legal Daily report.

Top leaders have set an example for crossing the road. During his visit to Foshan, in South China's Guangdong province, Xi Jinping, China's newly elected top political leader, led the way in walking to a pedestrian crossing when someone wanted to cross a road with no traffic lights, people.com.cn reported on Dec 13.

Contact the writer at jinhaixing@chinadaily.com.cn