Beijing to regulate roadside parking to ease traffic

China's capital Beijing plans to regulate roadside parking, and improve public transport, the media reported on Monday.

The ratio of green commuting is expected to reach 71 percent, said Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport in an action plan.

Beijing depends heavily on its subway to ease traffic, and will extend one existing line, start building two new lines, and speed up work on nearly 16 lines under construction, with 40 lines covering a total of 950 km planned by 2020, the Global Times reported.

The transport administration also plans to change to 40 bus routes, and offer new services to encourage people to commute more efficiently.

Priority will be given to cyclists and pedestrians with nearly 300 km of cycle paths and 10,000 more bicycles for public hire by the end of this year.

The shortage of parking lot is one of the city's major concerns. Most of China's fast growing cities and towns are facing the same problem. Most office compounds and residential buildings have very few or no parking areas.

Parking along roadsides creates its own problems. Cyclists are forced to use roads or pavements because the cycle paths are often blocked.