China National Highway 110 traffic jam

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The China National Highway 110 traffic jam was a recurring^[1] massive traffic jam that began to form on August 14, 2010, mostly on China National Highway 110 (G110) and Beijing–Tibet expressway (G6), in Beijing, Hebei and Inner Mongolia.^[2][3] The traffic jam slowed down thousands of vehicles for more than 100 kilometres (60 mi) and has lasted for more than ten days.^[3][4][5] Many drivers were able to move their vehicles 1 km (0.6 mi) per day, and some drivers reported being stuck in the traffic jam for five days.^[5] It is considered to be one of the "longest" traffic jams by some media.^[6][7][8]

Cause

Traffic on the China National Highway 110 has grown 40 percent every year in the last several years, making the highway chronically congested.^[5] Currently, the traffic volume is more than 60% of the designed traffic capability.^[9]

The cause of the traffic jam was reported to be a spike in traffic by heavy trucks heading to Beijing, along with National Highway 110's maintenance work that began five days later.^[3] The road construction which decreased about 50% of the traffic capability^[2] has contributed heavily to the traffic jam and will likely not be over until mid-September.^[5] Police have reported minor breakdowns and accidents have compounded the problem.^[10]

Greatly increased coal production in Inner Mongolia shipped to Beijing along this route because of the lack of railway capacity has overloaded the highway.^[11] 602 million tons of coal were mined and shipped in 2009; production is expect to rise to 730 million tons in 2010.^[11] An additional factor is efforts by overloaded trucks which lack proper paperwork for their cargo to avoid a coal quality supervision and inspection station on China National Highway 208.^[11]

Creation of mini-economy

Locals near the highway have sold various goods like water, instant noodles, and cigarettes at inflated prices to the stranded drivers.^[3][10] A bottle of water normally costs 1 yuan, but on the highway water is sold for 10 yuan. Drivers have also complained the price of instant noodles has more than tripled.^[12] Some vendors have created mobile stores on bicycles.^[12]

Response

Authorities have tried to speed up traffic by allowing more trucks to enter Beijing, especially at night. They have also asked trucking companies to suspend operations or take alternate routes.^[12]

End

By late August 2010, the traffic jam had largely dissipated, reportedly due to the efforts of authorities.^[13] Between Beijing and Inner Mongolia, only minor traffic slowdowns were reported near toll booths.^[13]

References

People's Republic of China portal

External links

• China Traffic Jam Vanishes Overnight
• Beijing Embraces Car-Free Day in Traffic Jams | China Digital Times (CDT)
• Report and video of the jam
  • Direct link to YouTube video