How Beijing's one-day car ban keeps traffic moving and what Nairobi can learn

Beijing has 22 million people and more than seven million cars. By Nairobi logic, the city should be a dead parking lot by 6am.

Vehicles run on Zhongguancun Street during morning peak hours in Haidian District of Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 3, 2023.

Vehicles run on Zhongguancun Street during morning peak hours in Haidian District of Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 3, 2023.

It was Friday, September 18, at 8.30am. It was my most anticipated day in China.

We were leaving the hotel for the Great Wall, half-asleep and half-excited. Our guide, Zhao Jingwei, was already on his phone checking traffic.

“Beijing traffic is managed by odd-even ban policy,” Zhao said.

Back home, Nairobi is choking. We lose Sh130 billion every year to traffic, according to the Ministry of Transport. NaMATA warns it could hit Sh1 trillion by 2063.

Numbeo, an online dateabase, ranks us second worst in Africa after Lagos and 11th worst globally. The average commute is 57 minutes.

In Beijing, it should be worse. It isn’t. So I asked Zhao to explain.

Source: The Star