Skip navigation

 Login or Register | Member Centre

Walton: The thrill of the open road

Beijing's order to haul vehicles off the roads may not be doing much to clear the air, but it has worked wonders on the city's legendary traffic jams. 

The highways and city streets are virtually empty. Buses and other vehicles ferrying media, athletes and other folks connected to the Olympics are running like clockwork. Even honking, a common on-road mode of communication has virtually vanished, rendering no-honking signs placed around the city about as meaningful as a reminder for people to breathe.

Rarely seen are Beijing's traditionally overloaded mopeds, bicycles and other vehicles teetering along the highways.

Roadway signs depicting an elephant perched in the back of a pickup truck with a slash through it, seemingly warning against overstuffed vehicles in certain lanes seem particularly out of place.

 

It leaves one to wonder, when the Olympics are over, will pachyderms once again rule the road?

Start the Conversation, Leave a Comment

This conversation is semi-moderated What is moderation? | How do I report a comment?

You must be logged-in to submit a comment — login now!

Not registered with globeandmail.com? Register now. It is quick and free.

close

Alert us about this comment

Please let us know if this reader’s comment breaks the editor's rules and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.

Do not use this to complain about comments that don’t break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.

Back to 2008 Games blog

Back to top