What steps have the Chinese government taken to improve traffic conditions?

The rapid growth of car use has resulted not only in traffic jams in many of China’s major cities but also in heavy air pollution which has become an everyday concern in recent years. Accordingly, city officials decided to limit the issuing of license plates and have implemented other measures to limit car usage. Shanghai, for example, now only grants 9,000 to 10,000 license plates per month through a bidding system. The average bid price can be as high as RMB 82,000 while Shanghai’s average annual income is only RMB 65,400.