Everybody’s talking about this epic traffic jam on the highway in to Beijing. This almost looks like something out of the Onion:
A nine-day traffic jam in China is now more than 100 kilometres long and could last for weeks, state media reported Monday.
At least some drivers have complained that roadside vendors have increased their prices to take advantage of the traffic jam. One truck driver said he bought instant noodles from one vendor for four times the original price.
Another driver, Wang, told Xinhua he’d been stuck in the traffic jam for three days and two nights.
More at CBC, via Bike Hugger. See also NPR: Nightmarish Nine-Day Traffic Jam: In China, Cars Crawl Along 60-Mile Stretch.
And from the China Global Times:
For drivers, suffering the congestion on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway is nothing new. In a similar scene this July, traffic was also reduced to a crawl for nearly one month.
Traffic authorities were still struggling to cope with days-long congestion on a major national expressway, nine days after traffic slowed to a snail’s pace, and nearby residents are profiting on the latest traffic snarl by overcharging drivers for food.
In July, IBM released a study showing that Beijing and Mexico City have the worst traffic in the world, with both scoring a 99 out of 100 on a “commuter pain index.” It’s always reassuring to see transit opponents who’d like to see the United States outdo China for this dubious distinction.
See also:
- Bicycle traffic jam
- Traffic police, Facebook, and scofflaw motorists
- Los Gatos California: Snarled traffic
- Neighborhood Pace Cars
