WE MUST BE DETERMINED TO FIX THE CITY’S STREET TRAFFIC1
APRIL 14, 1989
The traffic on Shanghai’s streets has gotten to the point where it must be fixed. The city has less than 2 square meters of road surface per capita, and if the transient population of 2.09 million is factored in, then there’s less than 1.5 square meters per capita. Given such conditions, even though we’re determined, this problem absolutely cannot be solved within a year or two, so we hope our people won’t have overly high expectations. However, we always want to achieve a goal, so while we don’t dare say we will significantly or greatly improve traffic, we do want residents to feel that there has indeed been some improvement. Through hard work, this is a goal that can be achieved. Following are some issues that will have to be addressed along the way.
Combining Long- and Short-Term Solutions
After a recent look at the streets and traffic management in Beijing and Tianjin, I see that urban construction must combine the long term and the short term. Our present work should be laying a good long-term foundation, and our long-term work should combine its tasks with pressing immediate needs. Drawing on the experiences of some experts in Beijing and Tianjin that I called upon, I would like to discuss three lessons of particular value.
Lesson 1: Focus on Planning, Especially Traffic Planning. City planning must mainly be about traffic planning: in Tianjin, they’ve already laid a foundation for the next several decades of Tianjin’s development. They will gradually fill in the blanks according to this plan, making traffic convenient and housing easy to deal with. The reason Shanghai residents would rather just have space for a bed in the city center than an apartment in Pudong is that transportation is inconvenient, so it won’t do to neglect traffic planning. In Shanghai, we’ve already drawn up a plan, and the construction department and planning department have also done a great deal of work, but it now appears that this plan still needs to be supplemented and revised in the light of new circumstances. Also, without comprehensive traffic planning, we’ll be “treating the head when the head hurts, and treating the foot when the foot hurts”2—traffic problems can’t be solved this way. Planning must be traffic-oriented: this concept must be better embodied in the plan.
To truly alleviate traffic in Shanghai, we must transfer people and industries from Puxi to Pudong. The peak population density in the urban area is 60,000 people per square kilometer—where can we put them all? Some have proposed building a “Greater Shanghai” or a “New Shanghai” in Jinshan. This is not an unreasonable idea, but in the final analysis, Jinshan is quite distant so transportation would be a serious problem. It won’t be possible to move the downtown network and its facilities there. It’s taken decades to build one Shanghai, and it isn’t possible to build another Shanghai to take its place. Hence the future center of Shanghai should remain in the present urban area. We just have to disperse some people, move some factories, renovate some garden villas, demolish some rundown buildings, and restore the streets and greenery—then Shanghai would become a very beautiful city.
Lesson 2: Concentrate Superior Forces to Fight a “War of Annihilation.” Why was Tianjin able to work so quickly? The city concentrated its forces, with each level focusing on the next. Once it said to demolish, all proceeded to demolish; once it said to build, they built one thing after another—that’s why they were able to do it so quickly. We’ve now dug up all the streets in Shanghai: “There’s a date for construction to begin, but none for it to end.” Yesterday, I went to an on-site meeting at Pudong Road South. We’ve been working on that road for over a year, and even the water mains and gas pipes have frequently been turned off. There are many letters of complaint from the people—we can’t go on like this.
Of course the Municipal Bureau of Projects also has its difficulties—not only systemic ones but also many difficulties in other areas, so roadwork isn’t something entirely within the bureau’s control. When I heard that they plan to dig up Huaihai Road this year to build a Metro station, I said, no matter what, they won’t be allowed to dig this year. When they dig next year, they must tell me exactly when the station will be completed. If they can’t say when it will be completed, they may not dig.
We already have a model for industrial projects in the case of the color TV tube factory. Last year, its construction was delayed for two months because it lacked the raw materials. This factory can produce 1 million tubes a year. Each day earlier that it can start producing means RMB 450,000 in profits and taxes, and that’s not counting profits from subsequent production. Hence we formed a command headquarters and brought in work teams, which in one quarter enabled us to regain the time lost last year. The topping off took place on March 27 of this year. When I read this news in the papers, I was so moved I couldn’t sleep, so I wrote a letter to thank them. They promised that production will start by the end of this year. This is our “second wind”—all of Shanghai needs to work with this kind of spirit.
Congratulatory letter of March 28, 1989, to Qin Fuxiang, deputy director of the Shanghai Bureau of Instrumentation and Telecommunications, and Zhu Guitang, deputy director of the Shanghai Bureau of Construction Engineering. The topping off of the main factory building of the Shanghai Yongxin Color Tube Factory took place on March 27.
Lesson 3: Contract Out Responsibilities by District. Urban construction entails mobilizing people to contract by district. It isn’t enough to rely on vertical chains of command and on specialized bureaus to do urban construction. For many things, we still need to turn into actions the spirit in which the city government devolved power to districts, counties, and enterprises last year: bundle powers, responsibilities, and benefits together for devolution, and mobilize all the people of the city who are to be involved in urban construction. In Tianjin, every district has a powerful construction team with its own large trucks and excavators. That way they could bid and compete, with all districts striving to see who could work faster. Each of Tianjin’s districts contracted for one section and each organized volunteer labor. Regardless of whether you were the city government, a district government, a county government, an enterprise, or a publicly funded institution, you had to contract for a section of the outer ring road and organize volunteer labor for it.
Our circumstances in Shanghai are quite different: we have a lot of heavily burdened state-owned enterprises so it’s hard to completely copy their method, but we can learn from their spirit. We can use volunteer labor for the Nanpu Bridge—it touches the hearts of Shanghai’s 12.5 million people, so it would be good for everyone to dig a spadeful of earth. We can’t do a good job of building Shanghai by grumbling and playing mahjong—we should count on our 12.5 million people. Only when 12.5 million pairs of hands go to work can we build a new Shanghai.
Comprehensive Solutions to Traffic Problems
In fixing street traffic, we must have comprehensive solutions, focus on key issues, and make some breakthroughs. This year, fixing traffic must be a breakthrough point. To focus on public transit, we must first strengthen road management. Streets have been taken over [by hawkers and others], and cars can’t drive through them. At peak hours, they can only travel 5 kilometers an hour, so the emphasis must still be on road management:
—First, focus hard on clearing and creating order in downtown streets that have been overrun—those who have occupied thoroughfares must leave them.
—Second, strictly forbid the arbitrary digging up of roads and any use of them that violates rules; road repairs must be completed within a designated time. We’ve already issued a regulation this year that forbids arbitrary digging on roads; authority to dig and deadlines for completing digging will be strictly reviewed, and a timeline for completion of work must be made explicit before work may begin.
—Third, strengthen the management of traffic flow, finish installing traffic signs and route signs on major roads, and rectify traffic congestion. Of the many ideas being offered in this regard, here is one that we might consider: some manual management in addition to traffic lights along some major routes, because present software isn’t very well suited to conditions in our country.
—Fourth, separate motorized and nonmotorized vehicles and ensure priority for public transit vehicles. This year, we are going to construct or dedicate four lanes exclusively to motorized vehicles and five lanes to nonmotorized vehicles so each can operate in their own lanes. This is a very important measure that can increase vehicle speeds and reinforce traffic management.
The head office of the city’s public transit company has been working very hard lately, with its new team striving to do better, which is a fine thing. We’re counting on you to make a breakthrough in internal rectification this year, notably in improving service quality. The first step is to rectify labor discipline and heighten service awareness among public transit employees—this is extremely important. People can still put up with slow buses and long waiting times, but if bus conductors or drivers swear at them or hit them, that would be awful—it would be like pouring oil on fire. Rider aggravation will decline a bit if your service attitude is good. I’ve said before that we’re now waiting to see if your team is an “iron team” or a “tofu team.” Don’t be afraid—all the people in the city support you. If someone should be criticized, then criticize him; if he should be fined, fine him; if he should be dismissed, dismiss him. If you’re not strict from the start, you won’t be able to be strict later. A new official lights three fires upon taking office. Without these three fires, would you be able to manage the ranks of public transit?
Second, do a good job of internal management, streamline agencies, and have office personnel go to the front lines. During the 1950s, cadres all personally went on–site, they went to the front lines in order to solve problems in a timely way. Of course I’m not telling all of you to go to the front lines, nor is that necessary, but we need that sort of spirit. Everyone should go on-site to solve problems, cadres should lead the charge, and conflicts must not be pushed down to lower levels. With the leadership team showing the way, rectification can be effective.
Third, optimize the arrangement of routes and strengthen dispatch management. Impose order on buses and at bus stops, improve bus turnaround times, and shorten the waiting time of passengers.
Study scientific management well—the goal is to transport people, to transport more people. We have to examine our present assessment criteria—we want comprehensive criteria. Of course public transit itself is facing many difficulties, and we mustn’t just criticize it. Some bus workers don’t even have places to go for bathroom breaks. According to our calculations, last year we gave public transit RMB 150 million in subsidies, but to solve so many problems, we would have to subsidize it by RMB 250 million this year. Without the additional RMB 100 million, many problems will be hard to solve, yet the city government really does not have the money to increase public transit subsidies.
Recently some retired colleagues who were very understanding [about these problems] suggested increasing the price of monthly passes. Such an increase would add to the burden on enterprises;3 however, enterprises are currently a bit better off than they were last year, a bit more invigorated, so they should still be able to cope with a price increase for monthly passes. As for raising the base fare to RMB 0.10, I feel the people would understand. We must be very cautious about this, as it affects the people’s personal interests. We’re preparing to bring the idea to the People’s Congress and the Political Consultative Conference for discussion. For now we’ll first work on some preliminary matters. I hope this can be handled in a steady way and not unsettle people.
Handling Traffic Relationships
In fixing street traffic, we must properly handle the relationships between the transportation and circulation of goods, between urban construction and fiscal revenues. These words are directed at the district and county heads. Of the 1.65 million square meters of streets that have been taken over [for unauthorized uses], one-quarter of them are being used for commerce, for building temporary structures, and for hawker stalls. A considerable number of streets have been taken over by unlicensed individual proprietors. Some unlicensed hawkers even engage in “guerilla warfare” with us—when they’re banned from Qiujiang Road, they go off to the Zhabei District. All district governments must mobilize to prohibit illegal hawking. I’m in favor of both blocking and channeling: they should be either prohibited or dispersed. However, dispersal doesn’t mean moving from one location to another. We must find means to allow the unlicensed to become licensed, and for the licensed to move indoors. For now, however, it appears that prohibition will still be the main approach.
It’s correct for all districts and counties to focus on finances, but you have to look at how you do it. Don’t go about it by allowing bars, hawker stalls, markets, and night markets to operate everywhere. People would complain that they affect traffic, create noise pollution, and make the streets very dirty. You lose more than you gain by doing this. I say, without transportation, how can you have circulation? If your transportation isn’t good, your commerce won’t be good either. Don’t use those primitive and backward methods to make the markets flourish. Shanghai is an international city and should look like an international city. I hope all departments concerned will support the district and county governments in this. I hope all district and county heads will no longer allow roads to be taken over or streets to be used by hawker stalls. Don’t keep doing this; instead turn your energies to collecting taxes from individual proprietors according to the law.
Once district and county governments have some money, they should spend it first on education; second on supporting good vegetable markets and on doing more to serve the people by promoting popular breakfast foods like flatbreads, crullers, wontons, and Yangchun noodles; and third on infrastructure construction and environmental hygiene. Stop constructing buildings haphazardly.
Develop a Law-Abiding Culture
When fixing street traffic, we must heighten people’s consciousness of the value of obeying laws and regulations so they will work together with us on this problem. Traffic affects the lives, safety, and health of people, so they themselves should obey the laws. As for the bad apples, they should be restrained; they must act civilly and not lose their tempers, and it is forbidden to strike or abuse drivers and conductors. By the same token, drivers and conductors who hit passengers should be severely dealt with. They, too, are bad apples and must be removed from the rolls. We must make strict demands of our public transit ranks, and all city residents must also develop a cultured and polite atmosphere in which people yield [the right-of-way] to one another.
To reiterate, a very important part of fixing street traffic is taking the roads back. The city has established a coordination group for street clearances. I’ve asked Li Chuntao, chairperson of the Municipal Construction Commission, to serve as group leader on my behalf. Zhou Chi, assistant director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, will serve as deputy group leader. One is the civil authority, the other the public security [forces]; together they will be able to do a good job. Without taking real action in road clearances, we won’t be able to reclaim the streets. I hope the highest leader in every district will also focus on this work. There won’t be hope for improved traffic until we rectify the congestion in our streets, and the problems for motorized and nonmotorized vehicles.
Besides those of us from Shanghai, participants in today’s conference include the Shanghai representative offices of other provinces and municipalities and their construction teams. I hope some of the construction units working in Shanghai will support us in building Shanghai and will strengthen discipline, especially when it comes to arbitrarily digging up roads.
Let us work together in the spirit of “all for one and one for all” in order to bring about a visible improvement in Shanghai’s traffic this year—I will start with myself in this regard.
1. This is the main part of a speech by Zhu Rongji at a Shanghai mobilization rally to fix street traffic.
2. Translator’s note: this is a metaphor for not fundamentally resolving a problem, or only dealing with it superficially or partially.
3. Translator’s note: workers’ monthly tickets are paid for by enterprises as a benefit.