Beijing launches app to reduce traffic congestion

BEIJING: From August, Chinese capital Beijing will promote a cellphone app that is likely to help address minor accidents and consequently reduce the city's notorious traffic congestion.

The app is the latest attempt by Beijing, which has tried several means to address the traffic congestion termed by many as the city's most serious "urban disease."

Beijing Insurance Regulatory Commission today said that 172 traffic accidents were resolved through the trial version of the app, which was put in use on May 13 in some areas of the city's Haidian and Changping districts.

When a minor traffic accident occurs, users post pictures of the scene via the mobile app, and traffic police can determine responsibility and damage online.

Without police presence, drivers can reach agreements and remove their vehicles away from the scene faster.

The app is suitable for accidents in which vehicles are slightly damaged and passengers sustain only minor injuries.

More than 90 per cent of traffic accidents in the city are considered minor, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The commission said the app will be upgraded when it is officially launched citywide next month.

In addition to the app, the city has moved 121 markets out of the downtown area.

On July 11, the local government announced that it would speed up construction of a "subsidiary administrative center" in the suburban district of Tongzhou.

Beijing led household vehicle ownership in China last year.

It had 63 passenger vehicles for every 100 households, more than double the national average of 25 cars, according to the Public Security Ministry