Beijing to Limit Car Registrations to Cut Congestion

In an effort to reduce congestion, Beijing is planning to reduce the amount of vehicle registrations it issues.

1 minute read

January 1, 2011, 5:00 AM PST

By Nate Berg


As urbanization continues in Beijing, the city is becoming increasingly congested with car traffic.

"Fortunately, the Chinese government is about to take some huge steps to try to curb it - they've just announced that in 2011 a license plate lottery system will be imposed on new vehicle registrations and the total number of new registrations allowed will be roughly 1/3 of the 2010 total of 700,000. With the total number of vehicles registered in Beijing up to 4.76 million from the 2005 high of 2.6 million, it looks like limiting vehicles will be good for the city's gridlock - and pollution - situation."

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