A Review of Beijing’s Vehicle Lottery: Short-Term Effects on Vehicle Growth, Congestion, and Fuel Consumption

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Date

Feb. 9, 2014

Authors

Jun Yang, Ying Liu, Ping Qin, and Antung Anthony Liu

Publication

Working Paper

Reading time

1 minute

Many cities worldwide have considered vehicle restriction policies to curb proliferating problems of traffic and pollution. At the beginning of 2011, Beijing became the first city to allocate vehicle license plates using a lottery. We provide background on Beijing’s lottery, and analyze its short-term effects. We find that vehicle growth has been sharply curtailed, and congestion has been reduced. However, this policy may not reduce fuel consumption as much as expected.

Authors

Jun Yang

Ying Liu

Ping Qin

Antung Anthony Liu

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