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Choosing to take the green route

By Alexis Hooi (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-02 14:51

I came this close to owning one of the most coveted sports cars back in Singapore. Think "P", as in German powered. But I had to give up that motorist's dream when I decided to come and work in Beijing.

I couldn't have made a better choice.

Taxis and traffic jams - these are two well-known exasperations of the capital. So when I find myself getting caught for hours in gridlock on the Third Ring Road during the weekend with an equally frustrated cabbie, I ask myself why city-dwellers would want to torture themselves with a car of their own and face this on a daily basis.

There are less reasons and opportunities to drive in Beijing.

A slew of measures are already rolling out to reduce the number of vehicles in the city to clean up its air for the Olympics and beyond.

Half of all government cars have been ordered off Beijing roads till July 19, with up to 70 percent to be taken off roads by July 20.

Similarly, high-emission or yellow-labeled vehicles, mostly freight trucks, have been banned in the city from yesterday to Sept 20.

An odd-and-even license plate rule that allows Beijing's 3.3 million private car owners to drive into the city only on alternate days, will also be effective between July 20 and Sept 20.

The green measures will take more than a third of exhaust-emitting vehicles off roads, just like that.

Other countries can face a more difficult task when it comes to regulating the number of vehicles. Less draconian measures like those in Singapore make motorists buy a piece of paper that entitles them to own a car for 10 years. The price is set by bids for a fixed number of cars to be released on the road regularly, with the latest amount hovering at $10,800.

Apart from the island state, other cities in Europe and the Middle East also employ sophisticated tolling or road pricing systems that charge drivers for using specific roads to smooth out traffic during peak hours.

Astronomical fuel prices have made it even more costly to drive now. The latest "mobility index" jointly conducted by Beijing-based Beiqi Foton Motor Co Ltd and the Horizon Research Consultancy Group showed that one in 10 motorists in China belong to a group known as "owners of idle cars" - people who leave their cars in the garage and take public transport because of congestion and fuel costs. They choose to limit the use of their precious vehicles to weekend trips - like renting a car.

So it really boils down to personal choice.

China can impose more bans or find ways to regulate traffic in its cities, but the number of cars on roads will still be determined by its people who aspire to First World standards along with the country forging ahead in its development to become one. Meanwhile, developed countries continue to warn of a buckling environment but are unable to give up those very First World standards that harm the earth.

Of course, the increasing sales of hybrid and fuel-efficient cars mean that more are turning to the green route dangled by manufacturers whose aim is, after all, to sell more cars. But why choose to be green and buy an environmentally friendly car in the city when it makes perfect sense to not have one at all?

I was also one of those who thought that what I drove said something about who I was.

Not any more. I now revel in cycling to neighborhood stores, taking advantage of an expanding subway network and limiting myself to cabs.

When it comes to transport, two new "Ps" - pedaling and public transport - do it for me.