Trucks bound for Beijing stand virtually still on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway, in this August 19th photo by Xinhua

A 100 kilometer long traffic jam near China's capital of Beijing, could last until mid-September, local officials are reported as saying.

Traffic heading into Beijing has been in gridlock since repair work started on the Beijing-Tibet Highway on Aug. 13th. Then last week, a major ring road in the capital was closed. Some key road are subjected to excessive wear as trucks carry loads above official limits.  

For drivers, suffering the congestion on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway is nothing new according to the Global Times. In a similar scene this July, traffic was also reduced to a crawl for nearly one month. Some killed time by playing cards, while others could only seethe in frustration.

In the latest bout of congestion on the Huai'an section, a truck driver named Huang, told the Global Times that he suffered "double blows."

"Instant noodles are sold at four times the original price while I wait in the congestion," he said.

Up to 2,000 new cars are sold each day in Beijing and in common with other cities in Asia, it is a challenge to keep up with the growth in car numbers.

In the modern city of Kuala Lumpur, there has been a preference to building highways and flyovers over public rail lines, while the island city of Singapore has built an impressive underground metro, while levying high charges for entering the downtown area.

A survey published by computer services giant IBM in June, showed that the daily commute in some of the world's most economically important international cities is longer and more grueling than before imagined, reflecting the failure of transportation infrastructure to keep pace with economic activity.

IBM surveyed 8,192 motorists in 20 cities on six continents, the majority of whom say that traffic has gotten worse in the past three years. The congestion in many of today's developing cities is a relatively recent phenomenon, having paralleled the rapid economic growth of those cities during the past decade or two. By contrast, the traffic in places like New York, Los Angeles or London has developed gradually over many decades, giving officials more time and resources to address the problem. 

For example, the middle class in China is growing rapidly, with the number of new cars registered in Beijing in the first four months of 2010 rising 23.8% to 248,000, according to the Beijing municipal taxation office. Beijing's total investments in its subway system are projected to be more than 331.2bn yuan (US$49bn) by 2015 as the city expands the system to more than double its current size, according to Beijing Infrastructure Investment Co., Ltd.  The city plans to invest 80bn yuan in 2010 in building its transportation infrastructure.

The study did offer a number of bright spots. Forty eight per cent of drivers surveyed in Beijing reported that traffic has improved in the past three years - - the high for the survey - -  reflecting substantial initiatives to improve the transportation network in that city.  In addition, the commute for drivers in Stockholm, Sweden seems to be, if not pleasant, then largely pain-free. Only 14% of Stockholm drivers surveyed said that roadway traffic negatively affected work or school performance.

Overall, though, the study paints a picture of metropolitan-area commuters in many cities struggling to get to and from work each day. For example, 57% of all respondents say that roadway traffic has negatively affected their health, but that percentage is 96% in New Delhi and 95% in Beijing.

Similarly, 29% overall say that roadway traffic has negatively affected work or school performance, but that percentage rises to 84% in Beijing, 62% in New Delhi, and 56% in Mexico City.

Moscow was notable for the duration of its traffic jams. Drivers there reported an average delay of two-and-a-half hours when asked to report the length of the worst traffic jam they experienced in the past three years.

In Nov 2006, Dublin's principal motorway, the M50, was turned into a car park for several hours because of a water pipe leak.

The following comments were published in Ireland's two principal dailies:

Irish Independent:

Transport planners

Five ministers were on hand to reveal plans for a fabulous new Dublin Metro line. On the same day, commuters witnessed the biggest traffic jam in Irish history.

Thanks to a spot of bother with a pipe, motorists were stuck in a snarl-up for up to seven hours. Lots of time to unwind.

Bertie Ahern

The sage of Drumcondra said he hoped some day to spend more time tending to plants.

Doesn't he have enough vegetables in the Cabinet already?

Irish Times:

Stephen Collins on the Register of Electors-

The worrying aspect of the problem is that politicians and civil servants knew about it and did absolutely nothing to sort it out.

It represents another example of the inertia that appears to grip the decision-making process in this country on all sorts of issues, from the country's energy requirements to pensions. It is only when a crisis point is reached that action is taken.