Transport management measures in the post-Olympic Games period: supporting sustainable urban mobility for Beijing?

After decades of rapid economic growth, the municipality of Beijing is now facing serious urban transport challenges with rapid motorization and travel demand growth. Designing and implementing efficient and equitable urban transport policies are essential to achieve the sustainable urban mobility target of the city. The success of transport management around the 2008 Olympic Games has left policymakers with the confidence to develop various efficient policies for congestion mitigation. Following a resume of the characteristics of fast development, this paper investigates the transport management measures used following the Olympic Games. These are analyzed using an ASIF approach within the framework of urban transport sustainability. The policies examined include a priority to develop mass transit systems, small passenger car purchase policy, a staggered peak-hour plan, new charging policies for parking, and traffic restrictions based on license plate numbers. Proposals for enhancing the effectiveness of these policies and recommendations on future policy development are also presented.