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A Traffic Jam That Lasts Weeks and Runs 60 Miles?

Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 4:31 pm
by brian
August 24, 2010: Stop Complaining about slow moving traffic. You have NO idea!
The LA Times reports today that In China there's a traffic jam stretching up to 60 miles could last for weeks
The massive traffic jam that stretches for dozens of miles and hits its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month.
And you thought an hour or so delay was bad?

Re: A Traffic Jam That Lasts Weeks and Runs 60 Miles?

Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 8:20 pm
by brian
From NPR, more on that mind boggling traffic jam:
China's Mega Traffic Jam Tied To Illegal Coal Trade
  • The police blame the jam on highway roadwork, compounded by minor accidents and a few breakdowns.
    In fact, the blockage – the second in two months on a stretch of road about 130 miles northwest of the capital – is a tale of deceit and criminality and behind the traffic chaos stands King Coal.
    China relies on coal for 70 percent of its energy needs. So illegal coal is rampant and the province of Inner Mongolia, to the North of Shanxi, has taken up the slack. And an awful lot of the trucks currently snarled on the G110 expressway to Beijing are carrying coal mined illegally in Inner Mongolia.
ALso on traffic jams, as reported in the Wall Street Journal
  • A recent study by IBM suggested some of the worst commutes are in Moscow, where drivers reported 2½-hour delays, on average, when asked about the worst traffic jam they faced in three years.
    Still, Beijing beat out Mexico City, Johannesburg, Moscow and New Delhi to take top spot in the International Business Machines Corp. survey, which is based on a measure of the economic and emotional toll of commuting.
    The mega-jam on the city outskirts comes as officials warn that downtown traffic in Beijing is steadily worsening.
    Beijing will have seven million vehicles by 2015and transportation will slow to what it was decades ago when China was known as the Bicycle Kingdom.