Beijing grants 17,600 people new license plates

Because of my recent trip to Beijing, I can attest to the number of cars on the street and how polluted the city really is. At two or three in the afternoon, the streets were jammed almost to a stand still and the subways were still crowded with people. At the end of 2010, Beijing had 4.8 million registered cars, an average of 2,000 new cars hitting the road every day. This past month the capital has instated a new quota of only 240,000 new cars to be registered this year, compared with 800,000 last year. Beijing is limiting the number of cars given a license plate by having a lottery once a month. This past Wednesday, the first lottery took place, granting 17,600 people license plates out of 187,420 qualified applicants. More than 210,000 people had applied but over 22,000 were disqualified. 90% of the plates are given to residents with the rest going to businesses. Many people think the lottery is a fair way to distribute license plates since it gives everyone a chance. Individuals can apply once a month and can only register one car. Beijing officials are trying hard to curb the problem by introducing higher parking fees in downtown areas and enforcing stricter traffic rules.
You’ll think again next time you're in rush hour, imagine 800,000 cars trying to get around your city.

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