Beijing has over 4 million cars registered (2 million in 2003)
China’s capital Beijing registry has reached 4,001,426 vehicles and 5,679,000 drivers, according to a release from the municipal government. The number of vehicles and drivers jumped 497,000 and 536,000 respectively in the last twelve months.
However Beijing will continue efforts to encourage people to travel by less polluting means such as taking the public transport system, added municipal authorities.
An estimated 4.8 billion commuters used public transportation this year, which comes to about 13.6 million passengers per day, up 11.1% percent from last year, said Beijing Public Transport Group.
China’s official news agency Xinhua reports that in spite of the rapid increase in the number of vehicles “Beijing's air quality has not deteriorated”. The quote belongs to Du Shaozhong, Deputy Director with the environment protection municipal bureau.
Du attributed the positive result to the city's continued efforts in waste control, including raising waste discharge standards, improving fuel quality, eliminating polluting vehicles and strengthening supervision and examination of those in service.
It is estimated that Beijing will have 5.5 million vehicles in 2015, compared with 2 million in August 2003 and 3 million in May 2007.
For a metropolis with 17 million residents, Beijing’s car penetration does not appear high compared to developed countries.
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