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A traffic jam just outside Beijing has lasted more than 10 days and stretches 100 kilometres, from the city’s outskirts all the way to Inner Mongolia. Officials say the jam could last until September.

What’s happening

Thousands of cars have been bumper-to-bumper, at one point crawling along at barely more than a kilometre a day since Aug. 14, when roadwork began on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Highway. The following week, parts of a major road circling Beijing were closed, which added to the congestion.

On Tuesday, hundreds of police officers were dispatched to keep order and reroute cars and trucks carrying essential supplies, such as flammables and food.

According to a report by The Canadian Press, villagers along the highway have been selling drivers packets of instant noodles and boxed lunches. Drivers caught in the gridlock have reportedly been passing the time by playing cards, sleeping and walking between cars.

The Associated Press

A truck driver washes himself after waiting over two days in a traffic jam on an entrance ramp to the Beijing-Tibet Highway in north China's Hebei province on Aug. 23, 2010.

Bottleneck

Construction kicked off this particular jam, but the highway’s location plays a significant role.

Beijing is a bottleneck point for trucks transporting goods to and from the capital. All trucks travelling through the region have to take the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Highway. And the heavy loads damage the roads – the reason for the construction in the first place.

With its proximity to Inner Mongolia, the highway is a major transportation route, especially since large coalfields were discovered in Inner Mongolia.

The Associated Press

A driver takes a nap under his truck jammed on an entrance ramp to the Beijing-Tibet Highway. The massive traffic jam stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday.

Auto sales

This year, China beat the United States as the largest car market in the world. The number of new cars registered in Beijing in the first four months of 2010 rose 23.8 per cent from the previous year, according to a 2010 IBM study.

Guo Jifu, head of the Beijing Transportation Research Centre, said in a public symposium on Monday that the number of vehicles on the road increased by 1,900 per day on average in the first half of the year. He said the total number of vehicles would hit 7 million by 2015 if the growth rate continued.

But the city's road networks can only accommodate 6.7 million vehicles, Mr. Jifu warned.

Mr. Jifu said average driving speeds in the Chinese capital will likely drop below 15 kilometres per hour in five years if the number of vehicles continues increasing while no further measures are taken.

The Associated Press

Truck drivers play cards in the shade of a jammed truck in China. The traffic jam stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.

Commuter pain

A 2010 IBM study of traffic in 20 major cities found that Beijing had the highest rate of “commuter pain,” followed by Mexico City and Johannesburg. Commuter pain was measured by 10 indexes that rated the emotional and economic toll of commuting in each city.

Of the 20 cities surveyed, Toronto had the eighth lowest rate and Montreal had the fourth lowest. Stockholm had the least painful commute.

Nearly 100 per cent of surveyed commuters in Beijing said traffic has negatively affected their health, while 84 per cent say traffic has been detrimental to their work or school performance. A quarter of respondents in the city said they would choose to work more if their daily commute were less painful.

Long-term solutions

While this particular jam has caught the world’s attention, traffic headaches in Beijing are not new and the city has taken previous measures to relieve the roadway congestion.

The capital city has a ban that keeps private cars off the road one work-day-a-week in urban areas. It has also introduced staggered working hours and raised parking fees in downtown areas to ease the traffic pressure.

Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong said in a government report in January that the city plans to encourage public transportation by extending light-rail and opening more express bus lines. But getting people out of their cars has not been easy. Last year the rate of people who took public transportation for their daily commute in Beijing was only 38 per cent, according to the mayoral report.

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