Data shows that PM2.5 emissions from motor vehicles in Beijing account for about 22.2% of the city's total PM2.5 emissions. Motor vehicle emission reduction projects are an important task of the Clean Air Action Plan. According to Beijing's work plan for easing traffic congestion and ensuring smooth traffic this year, before the end of this year, a policy on vehicle use in low-emission zones will be introduced, and electronic license plate technology will be studied to provide technical support for charging congestion fees. The Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport stated that the congestion charge will be collected at a selected time next year, and the prerequisite technical condition for collecting the congestion charge is the use of electronic license plate technology.

 

　　Policy

 

　　Using economic levers to alleviate traffic congestion

 

　　Last year, Beijing first proposed the concept of establishing low-emission zones, which attracted widespread public attention. The 2014 work plan for easing traffic congestion and ensuring smooth traffic pointed out that before the end of this year, policies for vehicle use in urban low-emission zones will be studied to regulate the intensity of passenger car use through economic means. This task is to be completed by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport, the Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, and the Municipal Public Security Bureau Public Security Traffic Management Bureau. At the same time, the application of electronic license plates will be studied. Through electronic license plates, refined management of motor vehicles will be implemented, providing technical support for controlling air pollution and alleviating traffic congestion.

 

　　The head of the Science and Technology Division of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport stated that currently, policies regarding the collection of congestion charges in low-emission zones are being studied. Internationally, the establishment of low-emission zones and the collection of congestion charges can be separated or combined. Whether congestion charges will definitely be collected within low-emission zones has not yet been determined.

 

　　The official mentioned that the prerequisite technical condition for collecting congestion charges is the use of electronic license plate technology. "Setting up manual toll points in urban areas is unrealistic, as this would only increase congestion," the official said. Electronic license plate technology is similar to ETC electronic tags, except that collecting highway tolls requires obtaining data at low vehicle speeds, while the electronic license plates to be used in the future will read data and deduct fees at high speeds. This type of electronic license plate is technically more difficult and may require greater investment. Which technology will ultimately be used is still under study.

 

　　One-card payment for parking to be realized within the year

 

　　To achieve energy conservation and emission reduction of motor vehicles, strengthening parking management is very necessary. Searching for parking spaces not only increases road mileage but also unnecessarily increases exhaust emissions. The head of the Science and Technology Division of the Commission of Transport stated that currently, functional departments are intensifying efforts to promote parking informatization and intelligence, collecting information on vacant parking spaces to provide support for citizens to query available parking spaces in real time. However, at present, this is still not achievable this year.

 

　　According to the reporter, this year, the management of roadside parking spaces is advancing rapidly. A "one space, one number" statistics system will be completed, and electronic parking charging technology will be promoted in major urban areas. In addition, within the year, the function of paying for parking with a transportation card or ETC stored-value card will be realized. According to the reporter, currently, the application of roadside electronic parking facilities is not very popular, mainly because electronic parking makes charging more precise, making it difficult for parking attendants to profit. The head of the Science and Technology Division of the Commission of Transport stated that in the future, random inspections will be used to avoid illegal charging practices and standardize the use of electronic parking charging facilities.

 

　　The official stated that currently, monitoring social parking lots is relatively difficult. Parking is a market behavior, and parking monitoring cannot be separated from investment in infrastructure. It is difficult for the government to mandate that enterprises apply electronic monitoring equipment.

 

　　The reporter learned from some social parking lots that information in each parking lot is relatively independent. After establishing a unified parking monitoring platform, the government will grasp the operating conditions of each parking lot, which is one of the reasons why the regulatory platform is difficult to promote.

 

　　Interpretation

 

　　1

 

　　How will the boundaries of low-emission zones be delineated?

 

　　Beijing will delineate low-emission zones within the year, and the transportation department is currently conducting policy research.

 

　　The reporter learned from relevant officials of the transportation department that the delineation of low-emission zones may be based on Beijing's ring roads, or important business districts and scenic areas in Beijing may be designated as low-emission zones, such as Zhongguancun, Guomao, or the area near the Olympic Park. Some experts have suggested that areas around hospitals and schools in Beijing could also be designated as low-emission zones.

 

　　Secondly, according to this year's work plan for easing traffic congestion and ensuring smooth traffic, economic means will be used to reduce the intensity of vehicle use in low-emission zones. Relevant personnel from the transportation department stated that measures may include increasing parking fees in low-emission zones or directly collecting congestion charges. Some foreign cities have restricted vehicles by type, for example, vehicles below a certain emission standard are not allowed to enter low-emission zones.

 

　　Finally, the technical method for delineating low-emission zones depends on electronic license plates, but cameras can also be installed to monitor vehicles entering the area, mainly depending on the specific policies for vehicle use in low-emission zones.

 

　　2

 

　　How will electronic license plates deduct fees?

 

　　Relevant personnel from the transportation department stated that where exactly to collect congestion charges, how to set standards, and through what technical channels to implement them all require further study. But what is certain is that collecting congestion charges must be premised on electronic license plate technology.

 

　　The concept of electronic license plates may sound unfamiliar, but in fact, it has long been applied in public life. Highway ETC toll collection and the green environmental protection labels issued by environmental protection departments are both applications of electronic license plates, except that these two types of electronic license plates have low capacity and are difficult to identify when vehicles are traveling at high speeds. Data can only be read after the vehicle slows down or even stops. The electronic license plates about to be launched in Beijing need to be able to read data from the electronic tags installed on vehicles and deduct fees while the vehicles are traveling at high speeds, but the application principle is similar to the former.

 

　　Transportation experts say that different levels of electronic tags have different construction costs; the higher the level, the higher the cost. The government should focus on information interoperability between different electronic tags to avoid resource waste caused by multiple cards not being universally usable. At the same time, high-tech electronic license plates can obtain a lot of data and can monitor traffic flow in an area at each time period. If data reading devices are densely deployed, they can also query the driving trajectory of a vehicle, thus enabling refined management of vehicles.

 

　　Related

 

　　Beijing's "Great Outer Ring" has built 450 kilometers

 

　　According to the head of the Planning Division of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport, in line with the concept of coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, the transportation departments of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei have established a communication mechanism to comprehensively connect from top-level design to project planning.

 

　　Future transportation should set goals in conjunction with pollution control and urban development layout. For example, Beijing currently has a single-center plus radial route structure, which causes many transit trucks to enter the urban area. In the future, bulk energy freight may be shifted from highways to railways, making transportation modes and economic aspects more reasonable.

 

　　From the perspective of the national highway network, Beijing has the concept of a "Great Outer Ring," with a total length of 940 kilometers. 450 kilometers have been built, and another 490 kilometers are under construction or in preliminary work. After the construction of the Great Outer Ring, it will reduce the pressure of transit vehicles on Beijing.