What actions, if any, should the The Beijing Traffic Management Bureau take to reduce traffic congestion in the city of Beijing?
The Client
The Beijing Traffic Management Bureau is responsible for drafting local laws and regulations relating to road and traffic management, supervising and inspecting traffic police performance in law enforcement, responsible for administrative lawsuits.
http://www.bjjtgl.gov.cn/publish/portal1/tab200/
http://www.bjjtgl.gov.cn/publish/portal1/tab200/
The Description
These years with the high speed of development of China, people are getting richer and richer, and more and more people have owned their private cars, especially in the capital of China, Beijing. Then the congestion of the city became worse and worse, creating the bad effect of air pollution and causing big traffic troubles.
Although some policies were carried out to slow down the increase of cars and the use of cars in Beijing, most were not effective enough. I think one important point about this is that in the past decades the government always reacted to the result when the bad affect had been made, the plans or prospect for the potential problems are not enough. In addition, the current policies are more or less superficial to solve the problem, such as the driving restrictions which had only a short effective period.
http://www.rff.org/Publications/Resources/Pages/186-Do-Driving-Restrictions-Reduce-Congestion.aspx
Therefore we need to find some deeper policies which can really help to solve the congestion.
http://www.rff.org/Publications/Resources/Pages/186-Do-Driving-Restrictions-Reduce-Congestion.aspx
Therefore we need to find some deeper policies which can really help to solve the congestion.
I think you have done very good job in framing the right question. Moreover, you have provided a relevant reference that points out limitations of current traffic management policies in Beijing. I believe this is a good starting point.
ReplyDeleteYou present a clear question and a very appropriate client choice. You provide a compelling case for the need for improved traffic management, but I think the tone toward past policies can be neutralized. I am curious about what made the previous policies ineffective in combating this problem, and how current attempts are "superficial". Why did those policies fail?
ReplyDeleteA few questions to perhaps consider as you move forward: What is the culture of the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau-- what backgrounds do the policymakers have and does it have the political and economic resources to successfully implement its policies? Do citizens want to follow these policies? Is congestion expected to worsen in coming years from population and business growth? I think analyzing the department's clout and "lessons learned" from the ineffective policies you mention will allow you to form very practical, creative policy recommendations. I think this question is off to a nice start.