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Traffic may cost car owners

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Car owners in Beijing may face congestion fees in a move to ease traffic flow, according to a five-year plan released by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport.

The proposal follows the limiting of new cars in January last year, which capped new car ownership through a lottery system at 20,000 per month.

The number of vehicles on Beijing's streets surpassed 5 million at the beginning of this year, making it one of the most congested Chinese cities.

"Congestion fees have been a key topic of research by the city's transport department in the past several years," said Song Guohua, an associate professor in transport planning and management at Beijing Jiaotong University, who has been involved in the research for the five-year plan.

"As mega cities face more serious traffic congestion, levying congestion fees has become a trend. In general, I think the method is necessary and rational."

Yet Song said more should be done before the levying of congestion charges can be done effectively.

"The city should improve the public transport system to provide better options for those who give up using private cars and choose to use public transport."

According to the plan, the Beijing government will devote more efforts to developing public transportation. Half of all residents in urban areas are expected to choose public transport by the end of 2017, while the total mileage of the urban railway system will reach 660 kilometers.

Levying congestion fees in Beijing is likely to be a flexible practice, which may cover a certain area and be carried out within a certain time frame, according to Song.

However, other experts reacted more cautiously.

"A precondition for a congestion charge is that a city can offer convenient and comfortable public transportation," Yang Hongshan, an associate professor of the School of Public Administration and Policy at Renmin University of China, said on China National Radio.

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.