Dalian, a seaside city in northeastern China’s Liaoning Province, has become a non-traffic congested city. People can drive their cars through any of the main streets at any time without fear of being delayed by traffic jams.
It is reported that great progress has been achieved in the program to end traffic congestion in 35 large cities in China. Some advanced cities like Dalian, Qingdao and Shenzhen, etc., have reached or approximately reached the international traffic administrative standard. Through comprehensive evaluation programs staged by the authorities, the traffic administration in Dalian has reached Management Level II and stands ahead of its mainland counterparts. Vehicles can run as high as 35 kph in the main streets, some can even reach 50 kph. The ratio of motor-driven vehicles that obey the traffic regulations has risen to 98%, while the rates for non-motor-driven-vehicles and pedestrians are 95% and 90% respectively.
Dalian began investing in traffic management construction as early as 1993. It has invested over 3 billion yuan to build new streets and maintain old ones. Besides, more than 10 large new parking lots and many pedestrian bridges have also been built and over 100 street junctions improved.
Usually, bicycle-riders are hard to manage in the traffic administration of any city. Dalian is situated alongside mountains and most of the streets are on steep slopes, which is very inconvenient for bicycle-riders. Therefore, the municipal government invests heavily in public transport and encourages urban citizens to use buses as their main transportation means. In the past two years, the city has replaced 1,700 public buses to offer citizens a ratio of 18.22 buses for every 10 thousand persons. As a result, bicycles are rarely seen in the streets, and the city’s traffic environment is greatly improved.
While investing largely in the physical environment, the municipal government also studied and adopted traffic rules and regulations of the advanced countries to regulate the traffic flow scientifically. Travelers in Dalian find many one-way streets in the city, which greatly reduces the chances of encountering a red traffic light and being held up. There are now more than 40 one-way streets in the city, totaling 42 kilometers in length.
Now, Dalian is trying to introduce a right-turn filter system at junctions to further improve the traffic flow.
(CIIC 04/13/2001)
