True, traffic is bad in Moscow. And even Atlanta. But nine days? One could take a leisurely drive across the United States in less time. Imagine what would happen if a similar jam occurred on a Los Angeles freeway. Suddenly, Joel Schumacher's "Falling Down," in which Michael Douglas' character's violence spree is precipitated by gridlock, doesn't seem as far fetched.
But as of yet, there have been no reports of violence relating to the traffic jam. And indeed that appears to be true of driving in China in general. It's not that driving in China is orderly -- just the opposite. But in general the chaos is commonly suffered and rarely leads to the everyday road-rage violence that dominates media coverage in the United States.
There are probably many reasons for this, but surely one is that the Chinese populace is used to such indignities. After all, the central government has relocated more than a million people to make way for the Three Gorges dam, an eminent domain grab that dwarfs anything ever contemplated by Robert Moses. At least the people heading to Beijing have homes to return to, though it remains to be seen if they'll ever reach them.
Plus, citing environmental concerns (the air pollution in China's biggest cities is notoriously awful), the Chinese government has been taking grandiose steps toward alleviating some of the congestion, investing in electric and hybrid vehicles to the tune of $15 billion. One concept that's attracted enormous international attention so far: the creative, albeit outlandish, solution of a hybrid bus that literally drives over smaller cars on the road. In any case, the fruition of those projects remains some months, if not years, away -- offering scant comfort to those drivers currently mired in the gridlock. Although, at the rate they are going, maybe the new hybrid vehicles will catch up to them after all.
Wow I feel better driving in Los Angeles!!
