by homegrownrevolution

An article in the July 31, 2007 edition of the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) detailing Nissan’s plans to develop an in-car navigational system for motorists in Beijing’s increasingly congested streets contains a remarkable conclusion:

“Michael Walsh, an independent consultant who works on motor-vehicle issues in China, says the Nissan system has one major drawback: It doesn’t reduce the number of cars on the road. “I put it in the same category as building more highways,” he says.

The article concludes,

“The Beijing government said earlier this month that it will test a program next month that will ban one million cars from the city for up to two weeks. To encourage people to take public transportation, it recently lowered the price of a bus ride to 0.4 RMB (about six cents) from one RMB. The city has some limits on trucks entering from the suburbs and has considered imposing fees and stricter restrictions.

These strategies might not be as high-tech as Nissan’s but they will be more effective in the long term, says Tang Dangang, director of the Vehicle Emission Control Center of the State Environmental Protection Administration. “Economic strategies might be the only way to improve congestion,” Mr. Dagang says. Clear the roads “and more cars come”.

Meanwhile back in Los Angeles our clueless city officials are increasing mass transit fares and pondering turning Olympic and Pico in to blight inducing one-way freeways.

And we wonder why we’re always stuck in traffic . . .