1. Shanghai Morning Post: I’m from Shanghai Morning Post. I have a question for Director Chen. You talked about the emergency plans, and how do you define a serious traffic jam? In addition, speaking of the sufficient research and argumentation, in case of a traffic jam, how will the research and argumentation will be carried out? Could you explain the restrictions on some plates and some types of vehicles, like restrictions will be put on cars carrying plates with odd and even numbers or trucks banned from using the elevated roads? Thank you.

Chen Zhikang: Thank you for the question. Traffic jam is actually an ambiguous idea for the general public. Over the past few years, the Traffic Police General Team and the city’s Urban Comprehensive Traffic Planning Institute have been working on a research program on how to define a long, widespread traffic jam. The research results have been applied to the daily traffic management work. As we can see in daily life, the road bulletin boards on the elevated roads indicate road congestion in red, slow traffic flow in orange, and smooth traffic in green. Different road sections have different indexes. The elevated roads and the streets also have different indexes. The traffic police will judge the condition of congestion based on such indexes as well as data updated by the control center.

As to the restrictions you mentioned over the car plates and types of vehicles, that’s what we’re considering imposing depending on the progress of the some road construction projects. However, we’ve rarely resorted to such measures so far. The traffic administration has been very cautious about such restrictive measures, which will affect considerably the citizens’traveling and the city’s social and economic activities. As I know, we have no plan to enforce such rules on certain roads or in certain areas. As a matter of fact, the restrictions we have put on some vehicles and some plates are emergency measures aimed at separating big and small vehicles, giving priority to buses and helping rescue work. For example, during the tower crane collapse accident at a certain road section, we closed surrounding streets. Also, when an area has to be enclosed to facilitate construction work, we restrict all vehicles except buses. That’s the restriction on types of vehicles.

2. Eastday.com: I’m from Eastday.com. One question for Director Chen. You said just now that the city public security bureau, the insurance regulatory commission and the Shanghai Bureau of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission have jointly issued the Provisional Measures on Drivers’Voluntary Evacuation and Consultation in Case of a Car Crash Involving Only Property Damage, and that the city has set up five branches to handle such accidents. Could you specify on the measures and the five branches as well as their role in speeding up the accident handling process in the city? Thank you.

Chen Zhikang: There are varied ways to alleviate the traffic jams, including one that we have learned from our day-to-day work and that is popular with the public. That is, in common traffic accidents, which we define as those where the passengers and drivers are not injured and the car can move, a quick evacuation from the site can avoid creating a traffic jam. Imagine that in a car crash on the elevated road or a major street, if the people involved don’t evacuate quickly, creating both a traffic jam and indirect negative influence on society, economy and environment.

Since the city adopted the quick evacuation and compensation measures on November 1, 2006, drivers have acted more and more spontaneously to evacuate from the site after a minor accident, contributing greatly to the city’s effort to“alleviate road congestion and ensure smooth traffic.”However, problems do exit when the policy is carried out, with the major one being that drivers are dissatisfied with the inconveniences they encounter when claiming insurance after they follow the evacuation steps, which discourages the drivers from a quick evacuation and impairs the efficiency of handling the site of a traffic accident.

After listening to the public opinions on many occasions, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau and the Shanghai insurance regulatory bureau recently came up with the Provisional Measures on Drivers’Voluntary Evacuation and Consultation in Case of a Car Crash Involving Only Property Damage, effective April 1. This Temporary Measures differs from previous policies in the following factors. One, it cancels the previous different approaches to handling a case involving property damage worth within 2,000 yuan and within 30,000 yuan. In case of a car crash involving no injuries and deaths, the drivers must evacuate from the site first and then discuss the compensation provided that the car can move safely or other self evacuation rules apply. The reason for setting the rule is that neither the drivers nor traffic police are professional property assessment workers that can evaluate precisely the damage involved and that they would delay the evacuation process. Two, according to the new measures, insurance claim centers will be set up to offer“one-stop”services, including“damage assessment, insurance claim and responsibilities assessment,”to handle car crashes involving only property damage. Three, it rules out the earlier practice of drivers deciding on the responsibilities in a car crash. After evacuating from the site, the drivers will only have to fill up the“Form of Property Damage Car Crash, specifying how the accident occurs. Then the insurance companies will assess the damage and settle the claims within the traffic mandatory insurance responsibilities by referring to the form. For the claims beyond the traffic mandatory insurance responsibilities, traffic police will decide on the responsibilities by referring to the form. This can prevent drivers quarreling over their responsibilities in the accident at the scene.

Meanwhile, from April 1, five insurance claim centers will be established. For damages worth within 2,000 yuan, the insurance companies will set the claims within the limit of the traffic mandatory insurance responsibilities. For damages beyond 2,000 yuan, the drivers will go through the paperwork for responsibility assessment at the insurance claim centers where the traffic police stationed there will issue Responsibility Assessment Paper according to the Form and other documents. Then the insurance companies will pay the claims as stipulated by the commercial insurance liabilities according to the drivers’responsibilities. The Measures aims to save the drivers time they spent on trips to the center and long queues. It is an act to ensure convenience to the public. In addition, we require the insurance centers to set up an authorized property damage assessment office. It will function like an official scale at a wet market, and if you feel unsatisfactory with the assessment, you can invite a third party to do the assessment.

3. Xinmin Evening News: I’m from Xinmin Evening News. I’ve a question for Mr Wu Yi. When I was recently covering the news on the national“two sessions,”many Shanghai delegates showed their concerns about the energy saving and pollution reduction, and they praised the city’s work in this aspect. Why? Because of the city’s efforts to control the number of cars on the streets. They know that car plate auctions have reduced greatly the number of potential new cars on the streets, which contribute to the efforts to save energy and reduce pollution. However, the delegates also were concerned over how you will make the auctions more scientific and more reasonable. Any how will you make more transparent the uses and supervision of the proceeds from the auctions. Would it be convenient for you to tell us some new plans for the auction? Thank you.

Wu Yi: The auction to control the total number of the cars on the roads in the city is by no means a cure-all, though it is generally speaking effective. A figure will bear out my point. In other cities of our country, for example, a certain city allowed more than 460,000 news cars on the streets in 2007, but we only allowed 90,000. You mentioned the proceeds from the auctions. The proceeds have been put under a system of spending and management, as decided jointly by the development and reform commission, the finance bureau and the communications bureau. We are put in charge of the operation, the finance bureau in charge of spending and the development and reform commission spending. The three branches are independent in their roles. The uses of the funds have been announced at the Shanghai two sessions. The uses will also be reported annually according to certain procedures. Anyway, the policy is a transitional one. When we have a good network of public transport, for example, the subway lines reach 400 kilometers, or 500 kilometers, and high-quality special lanes are available, or the whole traffic condition has improved, the policy will be phased out.

4. Wenhui Daily: I’m from Wenhui Daily. I’ve a question for Mr Wu Yi. The date of the March auction is only days away. Will there be improvement in the March auction to solve the specific drawbacks? Another question is for Mr Zhang. What are the urban construction projects that will be done in the downtown areas this year and how do you think these projects will affect the traffic?

Wu Yi: Following the network congestion in the January auction, we analyzed the problem with the International Commodities Auction Co, network companies, including the network operators and safety operators, and IT experts and came up with some measures to improve it. I’d like to tell you that the March 29 auction will be different from the previous one in several ways. While keeping the general operation mode, we’ll improve the rules on network logging and the procedure of the auction. The improvement will be in the following factors. One, we’ll change the auction page. In the past, the bidders were required to log onto the network first, key in the numbers, quote the bid price and then confirm the price. Each step had to be checked in the background program, which would occupy the telecommunications resources and the databank. This time, each operation can be done on the same page after logging onto the network, including the total number of current bidders, updated potential minimum winning price, and your bid price. Another difference is that you no longer need to apply to check the latest information, as required before. You only have to click on the update button for that, which will cut down on the waste of the telecommunications resources. Two, after ensuring the bidders use the network in a legal way or have used the network in a legal way, we set apart those non-bidders. To put it another way, the bidders must register a package of two phone numbers when obtaining the bid book, either one mobile phone and the other fixed phone number, or two mobile phone numbers or two fixed phone numbers. But the fixed phone numbers must be direct lines. To prevent registration mistakes, the auction company will ask the bidder to confirm between 8pm and 9:30pm on March 27 by calling the bidding numbers through the two numbers they registered. On the auction day, those numbers not recorded in the packages of numbers will be rejected. Also, to prevent a bidder from using the line for too long after getting through, the system will disconnect automatically when the interval between two buttons exceeds 10 seconds, a practice we borrow from banks and other service businesses. Automatic disconnection will also happen to force you to restart the operation when the wrong button is pressed for a total of three times. Despite our efforts to improve the system, there is sure to be some network congestion. Three, Internet bidders can log onto the network before 10am when the auction starts, but they must wait until 10am to tender the bids. I here remind the bidders to take good care of their personal information. They will not be able to finish the bid if their bid number is entered into a second bidding medium. Another reminder, congestion is sure to happen at the last few minutes. So the bidders should tender the first bid in a very cautious way. The bids or revised bids, if crammed into the system in the last few minutes, probably will not be accepted or processed by the system. Thank you.

Zhang Yunjie: There will be 94 urban construction projects under way in the city this year, including 49 within the Outer Ring Road. Of the 49 road projects, 23 will be within the Inner Ring Road and another 18 between the Inner Ring and Middle Ring roads. The influence on traffic will mainly come from these 41 projects. For example, the road network to serve the 2010 World Expo involves 29 roads in downtown areas. It seems that the projects cover a large area, but the projects each are not so big and their construction cycles are relatively short, spreading out in different stages, to minimalize the influence on the surrounding roads.

In addition, the biggest influence on the downtown traffic will come from the comprehensive traffic renovation project at the Bund. We exercise great caution in arranging the traffic to facilitate the project. The traffic police and communications department carried out assessment for more than half year. So far it has shown that our plans have worked and achieved the expected results. Our next step is to improve the plans in terms of technology, management and tolerance extent of citizens to facilitate citizens’traveling.

Wu Yi: I’d like to add one point. When I said just now that the bidders and non-bidders should be differentiated, I didn’t mean that the non-bidders should be discouraged from learning about the auction. One of our principles in overhauling the auction system is ensuring transparency. So we’ve consulted the Shanghai Online, making sure that the non-bidders can look up information on the auction under way.

5. Xmnext.com: I’m from Xmnext and have a question for the government spokesman. A recent news report said that it is possible that an airplane holding company jointly invested by the State-assets Supervision and Management Commission and the city government will be set up this month. Can you confirm the news? And when will it be possibly set up?

Chen Qiwei: The project has been widely reported during the national“two sessions.”I have no further information.

6. Shanghai Daily: I have two questions for Mr Wu Yi. When answering questions on car plate auction from Xinmin Evening News, you said the auction will be phased out after the city has a good network of subways and road transport. So after the auction is phased out, many more people will buy private cars, which means the city’s efforts over the past 10-odd years (to control the cars on the roads) through the auction system will come to nothing. I’m sure many many more people will buy a private car in that subway and car are different commute means: A car is more comfortable and is more psychologically acceptable to Chinese people. Do you ever think about this possibility? The second question is that with the rising number of motor vehicles, will the motor vehicles occupy more public transport resources, or rather vehicle lanes? Now the streets accessible to bicycles and other non-motor vehicles are gradually diminishing. After the auction is phased out, will there be more and more restrictions on bicycles, a practice disapproved in European countries? Would you tell us something about it?

Wu Yi: Very sharp questions, but your worry is what we have worried. Alongside with the progress of society, more and more people with a good conscience will buy a car, but few people will use a car without restraint. That’s to say, the proportion of people owning a car will grow, but the frequency of using a car will drop. This can be proved in many developed countries, where the proportion of car owners in every 1,000 people is much higher than in China but the frequency of using their cars is much lower than in China. All this will hinge on whether our public transit system is well developed. If the public transit system is comfortable, punctual and fast, or even faster than cars, and more economical, I’m sure even if many people buy a car, not many people will use the car frequently or use it at rush hours and during weekdays: they will rely more on our public transit system. The government is responsible for developing a good public transit system. I’m sure about this.

Will there be more restrictions on buses and bicycles after the auction is canceled? I’ll tell you what, development needs a process and many things have reprises. When there were not so many bicycles in foreign countries before, people there thought it was a dreadful thing for China to have so many bicycles. We have seen that many countries turned back to develop bicycles and many of them have worked out good policies in this respect. I think with the progress of saving energy and protecting the environment and decrease of energy, bicycles may well have a growth potential. I do not mean bicycles to include mopeds and battery-powered bicycles, but the true bicycles. I’m sure that bicycles have their growth potential when coming to short distances, within a community and within a certain area. In addition, the urban administrative bureau has planned a network of slow-speed traffic lanes to ensure more convenience to cyclists.

Talking about buses, I think people will realize little by little that buses are important, rational and scientific. Though the roads will not increase in great numbers, the traffic conditions will be better and better for buses. Thank you.

7. Metro Express: I’m from Metro Express. I’ve a question for Mr Chen Zhikang. You said in the press release that the city will take some measures to alleviate the headaches of traffic congestions. Could you give more details, such as the diversion of traffic flow and adjustment of traffic lights according to the changes in traffic volume and direction of traffic flow? Many citizens are concerned about concrete measures the city will take. Besides, the Morning Post asked about the potential restrictions on the car plates and types of vehicles. If the city is to impose such restrictions, what will the restrictions be like? Restrictions on odd numbers and even numbers or something else? Please give us an explanation.

Chen Zhikang: I have answered the latter question. So far we’ve rarely imposed such restrictions. The traffic management authorities are always very cautious about such restrictions and bans as they will affect citizens’traveling and socio-economic life of a city. As I know, no such measures have been planned for certain roads or areas. Meanwhile, restrictions we do put on some vehicles and plates are emergency measures to separate big and small vehicles, give priority to buses and facilitate rescue work, but they are by no means simply restrictions on odd or even numbers. It is like building a house: enough tools are ready at hand, but when, how and whether to use a certain tool all depends on the actual condition.

As to exact measures, I’ll put it simply like this: Take the Bund renovation projects, intervals of the traffic lights were modified several times. The intervals are designed according to the traffic volume. At a simple crossroad, there probably was a balanced volume of east-west and north-south traffic before the renovation started, so the intervals were set equally at 20 seconds. But after the renovation started, the north-south traffic volume decreased while the east-west volume increased. Then adjustment was made, maybe 20 seconds for north-south and 40 seconds for east-west. So the traffic volume decides the intervals.

The distribution of vehicle lanes works in a similar way. For example, there were four lanes in the same direction at a certain road section. Before the renovation, most of the vehicles would take the straight-direction lanes, so three of the lanes were for straight direction and the other one for turn-left. After the renovation started, the number of cars that turn left doubled, so we have set two lanes for straight and two lanes for turning left. There are also some fine-tuning measures. For example, we set one lane near a crossroad for turning right. The cost of doing so is small, but the measure plays a big role in alleviate the congestion and reduce negative influence. Another example is the port-like bus stops.

Thank you.