Topic about traffic jam

1.  Traffic condition in Shanghai and Suzhou

  There are lots of cars and buses on the streets in Shanghai. Terrible traffic jams usually happen in the rush hour, I heard some coworkers get off work later in order to steer clear of rush hours, I lived in a place which was 5km from the place I worked, it usually cost me less twenties minutes if I rode a bike to go to work, but it would take me more than forty minutes if I chose to drive to work or take a bus to work in the rush hour. Lots of my coworkers in Shanghai prefer taking the subway to go to work, it's likely that they have to make a transfer on the way to work,  and it's not surprising that it will take many white-collars more than two hours for commute in a day. Now there are 16 metro lines running and 5 metro lines under construction,  it's way too crowded in the rush hour, sometimes you have to stand on your tiptoes, and squeeze in or squeeze out of the metro door.

Also we can take a taxi or use shared bikes, In some places nearby metro stations you can see some guys who can offer you a ride with a motorcycle, it's very convenient and cheap if the distance is not far enough to take a taxi, but it's illegal for them to take passengers with motorcycles.

Nowadays it's very convenient to take a taxi, most young people are used to taking an order with a smartphone app similar to Uber, they don't have to stand at the sidewalk with a expectant look on their faces.

Many people start to use shared bikes, you can use your phone to activate them easily, and these bikes are available in many places, the prices are cheap, only one RMB per ride. Many young people use shared bikes to get to their nearest subway station or bus stop to commute to work.

Traffic jams in Suzhou are not that serious as in Shanghai. Now three metro lines are working and some more are under construction. There are bus lanes in Suzhou, so usually buses are not affected by traffic jams. There are lots of scenic spots here, many people drive to these scenic spots in weekends for beautiful landscape and picnics, usually there are many cars in the parking lot around scenic spots, if you get there too late, it's not easy to find a parking space, in this situation, some people park the car around the roadside.

Also there are tricycles around scenic spots or metro stations in Suzhou,  compared to taxi, it's more convenient to take a tricycle ride for short distances , and it's cheaper. Compared to motorcycles, it's more suitable for passengers with luggages, and it's approved by government with a license plate. I usually take a tricycle to go to the nearby metro station, it'a about 10 minutes drive, and cost me 10 RMB.

2. Something related to traffic control

  Local license plates in Shanghai/Beijing are too expensive for ordinary people, also it's quite difficult to get qualified to buy local license  plates.

  Those who don't have local license plates also can drive in Shanghai, but there is a vehicle restriction. As I know, they are not permitted to  drive on elevated roads on workdays. Cars without local license plates in Beijing are more seriously restricted, they have to apply for a  certificate to get qualified to drive within Sixth Ring Road of Beijing, the certificate is valid for seven days only, you can apply for it for  12 times a year. Also cars with local license plates are under restriction, if you are allowed to drive depends on the last number of your license plate number.

  The gasoline price is very high in China compared to many western countries, many drivers complain it a lot. As I learned on the Internet, half of  the gasoline price is tax. I have to spend about 300RMB to refill my gas tank, the capacity of my gas tank is a little more than 30L, it will be  used up in a month.

  Joint venture cars are very expensive in China, as I know, fourty percent of the total price are taxes, techonology transfer fee takes ten percent,  profits take fifteen percent and thirty five percent are cost of production.

  We have to pay money to drive on the expressway, but there is an exception that it's free when we drive on the expressway during chinese trational festivals. But usually we will encounter heavy traffic jams on the expressway, the distance from Suzhou to my hometown is about 400km, usually it will take me six hours to drive home, including the time spent in expressway service areas, but it may cost me more than 10 hours during chinese trational festivals, it's a torture that we get stuck for such a long time because of traffic jams, the line of traffic jams may have 10km in distance, sometimes people get out of their car, and walk their dogs for a while.

What Do You Think

1. Some big cities in China already take some methods to control traffic congestion. Joint venture cars are expensive, but the main reason I think is that Chinese government wants to protect local car manufacturers. And it's very expensive to learn how to drive in big cities, I learned it in 2014, I payed 7500 RMB for the tuition .

2. I don't think public transportation system will be able to work well if  many people can't afford to buy a car. Now it's already quite crowded in the subway during the rush hour.

3.

4. Electric cars are now being promoted by the Chinese government , more and more people opt to buy electric cars because they will benefit from some policies.

5.  I don't think most chinese people can't live without a car. More than ten years ago, there weren't much cars in China, most people chose to take a bus / ride an e-bike to travel around.

LOOKING AT THE ISSUE

I learned how to drive in the year 2014, and got a driving license later. I bought a Volkswagen car in May 2015.

1.  Now we send my daughter to a nursery school on workdays, usually we take her there with a e-bike, because it's not easy to find a parking space in the community, so we park the car around a grocery store outside of the community. If it's raining in the morning, I will go to drive my car into the community, many people get to work early in morning, so it's easy to park my car during the morning, then we  go to work, send her to the nursery school on the way to work.

2. We usually drive to work especially during summer and winter. Sometimes I ride to work in spring and autumn. In the beginning years when I started to work, I usually ride to work even in summer and winter or it was raining outside, of course I could take a bus, but I had to get up very early, or I wouldn't catch the bus. My arms got tanned evidently when I rode a bike to work for 3 months during summer. I have to drive to work when we move in our new apartment half a year later, because the distance is nearly 30km from the place I will live in to my office.

3. There a small hospital close to the community we are now living in.  We usually go to this hospital if we are slightly sick/ill, I prefer to walk there, but my wife prefer to ride there, although she often speak to me that she has gained weight and wants to lose weight. There some big hospitals in downtown area, we seldom drive there, sometimes we take a taxi, sometimes we take a bus, it's quite difficult to find a parking space in the hospital parking lot except you drive there before 7:00 AM.

4. There is a big supermarket and a mall nearby the community we are living in, we usually ride there with our e-bike.

5. We seldom watch movies in recent years, I remember we took a tricycle to a nearby movie theater once, drove to a movie theater from my office another time, and rode there with our e-bike once.

6. Sometimes I have to go to Shanghai for work, I usually get up at 7:00AM, after getting washed up, I walk to a small street outside of the community,  find a breakfast shop and buy some steamed breads, then take a tricycle to the nearest metro station, buy a ticket, get into the subway, after about 7 stops, I transfer to another subway line,  then I can get the railway station after 3 stops.

7. We seldom go to post office, there are many express service companies in China, usually we can make an order with a smartphone app or a telephone call, a delivery man will get your home in a hour, the guy will pack your goods, and we pay for express delivery with Alipay, and you can track your package with a smartphone app.