Those who live in Beijing know what to do on certain days: Leave for work at least 30 minutes early during the annual NPC and CCPCC meetings in March; stay clear of the airport expressway when foreign heads of state visit; on major holidays, avoid going out altogether.

Beijing's transport infrastructure is near breaking point, and even a small holdup in one area can affect the whole system. A minor accident on the East Second Ring Road can slow traffic all the way to the West Second Ring Road.

But that's nothing compared to what a 10-minute-long red light can do to the flow of cars during rush hour. When US President Barack Obama visited Beijing in 2009, traffic congestion was phenomenal: miles of stranded cars lining Chang'an Avenue with bored drivers having nothing to do but crane their necks to get a look at the VIP procession. Public transport is not immune either - a poster on an Internet auto forum complained that even by bus, her trip home from work took 2 hours instead of the usual 45 minutes.

There are certain inconveniences people have to put up with when they live in a capital city. Washington DC implemented special traffic management procedures during the presidential inauguration and Seoul imposed designated car-free days during the G20 summit. But few capital cities resort to traffic restrictions as often as Beijing.

A recent Xinhua story about traffic in Japan pointed out that "In Tokyo, unless there are accidents, natural disasters or road repair work, traffic restriction measures are rarely taken."

The report also said, "Except for important state level events, even government heads and high rank officials are not entitled to 'green lights all the way.'"

Same in the US. When President Obama got injured in a basketball game, his "motorcade obeyed all traffic stops, the custom for non-official trips, during the return to the White House."

At the Beijing municipal government press conference on the new vehicle control policy, deputy secretary-general Zhou Zhengyu said, "Decisive measures will be taken to control traffic in Beijing. Otherwise, the congestion will only get worse."

Indeed. There are many sides to this traffic problem, some unique to Beijing, and it takes efforts on all fronts to meet the challenge.

The author is a Beijing-based freelance writer. [email protected]