China to Boost Urban Transport as City Congestion Worsens

[marmar]

[font size="1"]Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China, is seen during a news broadcast, displayed on a television monitor at a subway station in Beijing, China.[/font]


(Bloomberg) China pledged measures to ease traffic congestion with a goal of public transport accounting for 60 percent of all motor vehicle use in towns and cities.

The government will support the development of environmentally friendly urban transport systems and offer tax breaks and fuel subsidies for mass transit vehicles, according to a statement by the State Council, or cabinet, posted on the central government’s website on Jan. 5. It didn’t specify the current percentage of public transport use.

As many as 300 million of China’s 1.4 billion people will move from the countryside by 2030 to join the 600 million already living in cities, according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates. Traffic congestion and worsening pollution is forcing the government to improve public transport to cope with the influx.

“As China’s urbanization accelerates, the development of urban transport faces new challenges,” the State Council said. The government “must prioritize the development of public transit systems to ease traffic congestion, transform urban transport, improve people’s quality of life and improve the provision of public services,” according to the document. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-05/china-to-boost-urban-transport-as-city-congestion-worsens.html

[rbixby]

1. I wish we could do that here

Too bad the oil lobby is so powerful