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kiwiduncan
Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Location: New Zealand
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 Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 5:00 pm Post subject: Seoul City Hall planning to cut air pollution and traffic |
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I already mentioned in another thread City Hall's plans to radically reduce the number of car lanes on the roads and put in more facilities for cyclists and pedestrians, and now they are planning to charge more for cars entering big buildings too.
A lot of the plans seem a bit ambitious, and I think they'll have trouble implementing them, but good luck to them I say.
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Levying tolls to curb traffic and pollution
Seoul City said yesterday that it plans to levy tolls on vehicles entering large urban facilities such as department stores in order to reduce traffic jams and air pollution.
Owners of buildings designated for special traffic control will be required to reduce the number of vehicles entering their premises by 30 percent. The city government plans to collect up to 4,000 won ($4) per vehicle if those businesses fail to meet the target by next March.
Seoul City selected 69 urban facilities, including COEX and the Lotte and Shinsegae department stores downtown, which have chronic traffic congestion and a floor space of over 30,000 square meters. About 10 of them will be initially designated for special traffic control within this year, city officials said.
We plan to levy 4,000 won per vehicle beginning in March next year if the traffic moving in and out of the designated facilities does not drop by 30 percent, said Go Hong-seok, who is in charge of the citys transportation policy. We plan to publish the revised rule for public feedback next week.
The city currently imposes traffic charges on vehicles which go through the first and third Namsan tunnels. This will be the first time that vehicles entering buildings will be taxed to cut down on traffic.
Seoul City expects that the tolls will reduce traffic by 6,000 to 10,000 vehicles per day.
The city also plans to adopt a policy whereby cars with certain license plate numbers will not be able to enter various sites on certain days. Cars with 1 or 6 in the last digit on their plate will not be allowed to enter on Mondays, for example, if the building owners fail to cut traffic by 30 percent on their own in the first three months. If this system doesnt work for four months, cars with odd or even numbers will be prohibited each day. Levying tolls will be the last measure.
Seoul City plans to hold public hearings and conferences with owners of large buildings this month, and will submit the revised bill to the city council in July.
By Kim So-hyun |
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blurgalurgalurga
Joined: 18 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 6:05 pm Post subject: |
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Good!
I also think they should make catalytic converters mandatory, ban diesel for private vehicles (sorry, Korando lovers), and ban those smokey little two-strokes.
The air will still be bad, but at least then they can blame it all on China. |
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kiwiduncan
Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Location: New Zealand
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| Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 8:03 pm Post subject: |
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The best thing the government - or more appropriately environmental activists - could do is have campaigns promoting how much cooler, niftier and better small cars are.
The number of oversized cars in Korea is unbelievable. And they are ugly too.
Matizes rock. Tuscons suck. |
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