Beijing drivers brace for 'worst month of travel'

By Nona Tepper, September 2, 2014

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Strap on your seatbelt, charge your subway card and prepare your audio books. May we recommend something along the lines of Moby Dick?

September is Beijing’s most congested month for traveling, according to the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau. During the past three years, an average of 2.4 million cars hit the streets everyday inside the city’s Fifth Ring Road, about a 4 percent increase compared to the rest of the year. Likewise, the bureau’s traffic indicator jumps about 20 percent in September, compared to other months.

Beijing’s bureau blamed congestion on the start of the school year, Mid-Autumn Festival, the lead up National Day and a general rise in the number of people visiting friends and family during the short autumn season. Sundry mall promotions also inspire more people to hit the road.

Gridlock is expected to be the absolute worst on the 4th, 5th, 15th, 22nd, and 26th of the month, and from the 28-30th.

“If weather conditions are good, a lot of cars will gather in the direction of the Marco Polo Bridge to admire the full moon,” the city bureau also warned of September 8, when the moon reaches its fullest and China celebrates Mid-Autumn Festival.

This release follows news that Beijing has the third-worst traffic in the nation, according to online mapping company Autonavi. The city unaccountably ranked behind both Shanghai and Hangzhou. 

 

 

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