Monday, August 30, 2010

China gives gridlock new meaning... or The Big Jam

Have you guys heard about this epic traffic jam in China? When I first heard about it, I thought it was one of those urban myths, but apparently not.

The deal is that material destined for Beijing is mostly transported by truck. Normally, this isn't a problem, but this summer there is a lot of construction going on on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou highway. It started August 13th on a part of the highway that is usually congested, especially after large coalfields were discovered in Inner Mongolia. Traffic has increased 40% each year. Making the problem worse is that unlike in other parts of the world, China's highway system has no redundancy, in that there is no network of secondary roads to use as alternate routes.

The jam stretches 100km (60mi) with vehicles moving anywhere from a half to two kilometers per day. Some drivers get stuck in the jam for five or more days. They pass the time sleeping, walking around, or playing cards and chess. Local villagers were doing brisk business selling instant noodles, boxed lunches and snacks, weaving between the parked trucks on bicycles.

The construction will not be finished until September 17. But almost miraculously, on the morning of August 26th, the jam cleared up. So there you have it, essentially a two week traffic jam.

1 comment:

carlae said...

I hear it's best to turn off the engine while in a traffic jam.