Sharing The Road to Glory By Wang Ru (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-15 07:39
On most days, Duan Zhimin awakes at 6:30 am to the harsh ring of her handset, a substitute alarm clock. She then groggily pulls herself out of bed. The 26-year-old is an assistant to the CEO of a real estate company in southeastern Beijing's Yizhuang. Her job is well paid and not especially busy, yet workdays leave her exhausted.
The problem is her extremely long commute.
Duan lives north of Beijing's 5th ring road. She has to spend almost 3 hours each day en route between her home and office. Because she does not own a car, she takes public transport.
Yet even for those Beijingers with a car, a long morning commute is far from pleasant. Bad traffic is a longstanding complaint, and now there's the additional burden of rising gasoline costs.
Last year, 28-year-old accountant Zhao Bing got married in Beijing. He bought a 2-bedroom flat in Changping district in northern Beijing - a full hour's drive from the city center, where his office is located.
Zhao bought a car in the hope of avoiding crowded public transportation. But the gasoline bills quickly ate into his paycheck. Now Zhao drives to work just two days a week, to save money.
Recently, a new measure adopted by the Beijing municipal government has prompted Duan and Zhao, and many others, to reconsider their options for getting to work.
In order to relieve traffic congestion during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the odd-even number vehicle restriction will be enforced in Beijing from this Sunday until September 20.
Under this system, motorists are restricted from driving into the city on certain days, determined by whether their vehicle registration plate ends in an odd or even number.
The restriction has prompted regular and would-be drivers to seek alternative transport.
Carpooling has emerged as one of the most popular choices.
At a growing number of "carpool websites", numerous messages have been posted by commuters in search of companion drivers with odd or even license-plate numbers.
"While upset drivers in their empty cars sound the horn in the jam, people waiting at the bus stop struggle to squeeze themselves in like sardines in a can. This most ridiculous scene is happening everyday," says
Wu Di, 37, founder of
Chexing.net, one of the earliest carpool web companies.
Wu dined one day with his friends, one talked about hitchhiking in the United States. Wu was inspired and founded Chexing.net in 2002. It has grown from a small team to a large company, with more than 400 employees and 50 branches in 60 major cities across China.
Wu was one of China's earliest Internet users in the early 1990s. "Cars and the Internet have been developing at an amazing speed over the last decade," Wu says. "Their combination can generate many new business models - for instance, a carpool service information provider."
In the past 10 years, more Chinese families have bought cars. In Beijing alone, the number of automobiles reached 3.25 million in 2008, most of which are privately owned.
With more than 210 million netizens in China - the most in the world - Wu believes his business has a sound future.
Designed as a forum which gives ride-finders an open interactive environment, the website attracted 4 million registered users by the end of 2007, one fifth of whom are in Beijing.
This year, Wu's company has begun to make a profit by charging fees from its VIP members and providing a car-rental service.
Wu says carpool provides "the fourth traffic method", besides bike, car and public transport. Moreover, it generates a new type of social relationship.
"Many car owners don't care much about passengers sharing the expense. Instead they treasure the chat along the way and making new friends," Wu says.
"There are stories of how a bachelor drives and falls in love with his female passenger, and the couple even gets married. Sometimes my company looks like a match-making agency," Wu jokes.
Indeed, it is not hard to find a message on carpool websites that goes: "I am a handsome young man driving a BMW and wish to drive girls to work for free."
In April, Duan, the real estate assistant, left a message on a carpool web forum. She soon got a reply from another girl who lives across the street in Duan's community. In exchange for giving Duan a ride to work, she only asks for a breakfast.
"We've become close friends in the past few months, and my life quality has been improved, since I can sleep one more hour in the morning," says Duan.
Zhao also sought a carpooling arrangement. He found two neighbors whose cars' plates are odd-numbered, while his own car is even. They now take turns driving.
"My gasoline bill has reduced by almost 70 percent," Zhao says. "We have become good friends and often play pool and basketball together."
But the emergence of carpool has also triggered a debate. It is said that traffic police would fine drivers for taking passengers, as they are believed to be illegal cabs.
Many people also worry about the safety of sitting besides a total stranger.
"Carpool becomes popular because it benefits both car owners and passengers. It shouldn't be banned," says Pang Shihui, a researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, who has studied management of urban transportation.
She points out that Britain, Germany and some US states reserve a special lane for full-seated cars to encourage people to carpool.
"Carpool totally differs from illegal cabs - it is based on a freewill agreement, not a business activity. It has obvious benefits like relieving traffic pressure and reducing emissions."
Wu estimates that if every car owner in Beijing took three passengers to work, only a quarter of cars would need to run on the road. That would save 15,000 tons of gasoline per day.
Wu says there has been no report of an accident or crime from carpoolers.
"Most carpoolers are co-workers and neighbors. The possibility of crime is rare," Wu says.
(China Daily 07/15/2008 page20)
