The appearance of automobiles acted as a harbinger of modern megacities. As cities expand geographically and demographically, residents will buy and use greater numbers of cars. This has occurred in many cities in other countries. Why haven't our officials realized this rule and completed urban planning in accordance?

Our city planners have failed to learn from successful urban planning in other countries, such as preserving greater space for future road widening, carefully laying out different function zones and scientifically deciding the mix of different public transport tools. They find themselves faced with the task of addressing chronic traffic jams when it is too late because they have overlooked the root cause of the problem.

A necessary option

Xue Yong (The Beijing News): People critical of congestion pricing said the practice would violate car owners' private rights. However, it is a wrongly reasoned argument.

Car owners do not possess roads. The essential objective of congestion charges is to limit the use of streets and roads so as to protect public rights. At least, in a market economy society, this is an old legal convention.

Beijing now has 4.2 million vehicles. If every year 500,000 new cars are added to this already huge fleet, within 10 years, Beijing will have 10 million cars. If 4.2 million cars are clogging the city, what will happen to it with 10 million cars? This is a common problem that also plagues other big metropolises such as Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Levying congestion charges in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou is only a matter of time. Nowadays, the number of private cars is not too many and a relatively small number of people are affected. In the future, when every family has at least a car, congestion pricing will be more difficult to put into practice as then every family's interests might be affected to some extent.

Zhong Dong (www.sina.com.cn): A lot of cities are speeding up the construction of subways and light rail as a way to improve traffic conditions, but these infrastructures will not start to work immediately. During these years, car numbers may explode, and cities are already too congested to accept new cars. Thus, congestion charges must be collected when necessary, or the overall urban traffic system will break down and everyone will be affected. And, since the effectiveness of congestion charges is different in different road sections, it's necessary to diversify charging standards.

It might not be the best idea to levy congestion charges based on realistic conditions in different cities, but it's better than no policy at all. Policymakers should work out a set of fee-collecting methods to suit different Chinese cities, put them into practice until there is no more traffic congestion and there are enough subways to help divert car flows. If car owners do not make sacrifices, the convenience of those who do not possess cars will be affected. After all, the latter's interests should be more valued, because this is a reflection of social fairness.

Han Zhipeng (Nanfang City News): Congestion pricing is a good idea. First, fees will discourage some motorists from driving on weekdays; second, it will prevent a certain number of vehicles from entering the city center during rush hours. Congestion charges will also discourage people from purchasing cars and curb unnecessary and irrational transport demands. Nowadays, some youngsters buy cars upon graduation. If congestion charges are levied, they will hesitate. In this sense, congestion charges will curb these kinds of premature and excessive consumption.

China's public traffic system is still underdeveloped. However, congestion charges will force the government to put public traffic first.

Wen Yujie (www.cnr.cn): Congestion pricing will not necessarily ease traffic jams absolutely, but at least it may help to make the traffic flow smoother.

Let's imagine, if car owners think the congestion charges are too high, they might cut back on the use of cars and will especially try to avoid crowded areas. They may also first park their cars handily and then take buses or subways to their destinations.

It's now high time to levy congestion charges. Take Guangzhou for example. Not all areas can have access to subways due to technical and geological restrictions, so the city can only turn to congestion pricing. Otherwise, do you think they will pull down buildings to make room for further flyovers? If congestion charges are applied in certain areas and for limited periods, the problem of traffic congestion will certainly be solved.