For 11 days in mid-August, a traffic jam in China on the highway connecting Inner Mongolia and Hebei Province stretched to over 60 miles. Traffic was so snarled that transportation officials were predicting the congestion on China’s “National Expressway 110” northwest of Beijing might last for weeks to come. Then, all of a sudden, the congestion was dispersed. Because a huge number of cargo-bearing heavy trucks travel the so-called the Beijing-Tibet highway on a regular basis, it was undergoing much-needed repair. But the trucks kept rolling on, and combined with a car accident here or broken-down vehicle there, the tie-up got so bad that street vendors set up shop along the roadside.
Traffic jams are commonplace in China, which is struggling to keep up with an explosion in automobile use. Beijing tops the global “Commuter Pain Survey,” and the nation’s number of traffic-related fatalities is more than three times that in the United States.
The country’s massive traffic jam could be viewed “as a metaphor for everything that is wrong with pell-mell hydrocarbon-fueled industrial development,” as one observer put it. But the bigger picture reveals a historic, unparalleled investment in national transportation infrastructure—most of which is not centered on cars. China is addressing the problem of transportation bottlenecks by constructing millions of miles of high-speed passenger rail. Shanghai, which today has the world’s largest subway system, didn’t even have a subway fifteen years ago. Other cities across China are building or planning rapid transit systems.
Related Links
- China Traffic Jam Vanishes Overnight?
This article updates the story of China’s worst-ever traffic tie-up, now finally resolved; includes a photo gallery of China’s huge traffic jam.
(Source: Christian Science Monitor, August 26, 2010) - Chinese Traffic Jam
This Web page links to a podcast and transcript covering the Chinese traffic jam that lasted nearly two weeks.
(Source: Theworld.org, August 23, 2010) - Report: 60-Mile, 11-Day Chinese Traffic Jam Has Vanished
This article reports the surprising end to the 11-day traffic jam on the Beijing-Tibet highway in China’s Hebei Province that officials predicted would last for weeks more.
(Source: USA Today, August 26, 2010) - The Silver Lining in the Great China Traffic Jam
This opinion piece places the massive Chinese traffic jam into the larger context of the country’s unprecedented development of transportation infrastructure to keep pace with its rapid economic growth; includes video of a “straddle bus.”
(Source: Salon.com, August 25, 2010)
Other Issues in the Region
Trade and Prosperity
East Asian economies became global powerhouses in the 1970s and 1980s, but the decline of Asian economies in the 1990s created a crisis that led around the globe. The rapid changes in East Asian economies also raised concerns about the use of child-labor and sweatshops, where people work long hours for little pay.
- China Passes Japan as Second-Largest Economy
Decades of sustained growth have pushed China’s economy past Japan’s to become the world’s second-largest behind that of the United States. China’s second quarter 2010 gross domestic product measured $1.33 trillion, providing strong evidence that its ascendance as a new economic superpower is for real.
(Source: New York Times, August 15, 2010)
Ring of Fire
The countries of East Asia are located within the “Ring of Fire,” a chain of volcanoes rimming the Pacific Ocean. Volcanoes formed the islands that form the nation of Japan. The islands remain vulnerable to volcanic eruptions and earthquake activity. People in Japan have adjusted to such threats. National and local governments inform citizens and visitors about what to do should an earthquake occur. Scientists regularly monitor seismic activity (earth tremors) and the islands’ volcanoes. Earthquake drills are held annually, and governments have sought to improve construction standards to minimize earthquake damage.
Quality of Life
The rapid industrialization of East Asia has made some countries among the most prosperous in the world. But the population growth in countries like China has also meant that poverty and poor health care still plague many East Asians.
In an effort to find better jobs to support their families, tens of millions of Chinese are leaving their homes in rural areas and moving to the booming cities. They are lured by new construction jobs and the opportunity to send money home to their families. But many have difficulty getting paid for their work. Often these workers are treated as second-class citizens in the cities, and many workers cannot prove their claims because they did not sign contracts when taking jobs.
- Asia’s Silent Victims of Pollution and Emissions
Increasing numbers of road fatalities and the clouds of industrial pollutants and hydrocarbon emissions from vehicles are unfortunate consequences of economic development, particularly in Southeast Asia. Traffic accidents cost countries far more than they receive in development assistance, and together with occupational accidents they cause more death and disability than do infectious diseases.
(Source: The Guardian, June 10, 2010)
oh noooo bad highway