Watch this video and you'll never moan about the traffic again

06/02/2009 / CHINA

Watch this video and you'll never moan about the traffic again

These images were filmed by a CCTV camera at a crossroads in Shanghai. The traffic is chaotic to the extreme. It might be funny for us, but for the authorities, who will be welcoming 70 million visitors during Expo 2010, the problem is serious.

Posted on YouTube by Groenkenfylker.

Shanghai, a sprawling city of 19 million, is one of the most crowded places in the world, with an average of 2.9 people per square metre. Pair that figure with a boom in the economy of recent years, and the city has become chockablock with cars. So many in fact, that the city council started holding auctions for licence plates - which garnered around 3,300 euros each. Followed by a slight price-drop, the government then issued more plates in order to keep their automobile industry buoyant.. But in view of this video, it's questionable whether the authorities will be able to manage an ever-increasing number of cars on the roads.

Contributors

Xiaodong Du

A traffic flow specialist airs his thoughts

Webuser Han Qiang posted this here:

Compared with other countries, our public transport systems are not up to scratch. In Western cities, public transport users amount around 60%, sometimes even 90%. But in Shanghai, it's only 20%. That's a massive difference. Also, in other cities the metro makes up 40% of public transport, but here it's only 18%. And even in 2012 when the 13 lines are finished, it'll still only be 40%."

"I preferred to stay at work for a few hours more than to leave at rush hour"

Xiaodong Du is a student in Shanghai.

What we see in the video just looks like rush hour to me. When I was doing an internship in Lujiazui, the biggest business sector of Shanghai, I preferred to stay at work for a few hours more than to leave at rush hour, when all the buses and metros are completely packed and a nightmare. It's very taxing.

I do think however that people from Shanghai are following the highway code, because there are CCTV cameras everywhere and the fines are heavy. Another thing about public transport - it stops too early. Lines finish between half nine at half ten."

Xiaodong Du