Beijing is ready to deal with heavy traffic during the May Day holidays, with more policemen and more detailed regulations, especially for key roads and tourist destinations.

The Beijing municipal communications department forecast that local passenger traffic volume will amount to 120 million journeys during the holidays, nearly the same as that during the National Day holidays in October last year.

By the end of March 2004, the number of vehicles registered in Beijing had reached 2.17 million. The figure is expected to top 2.2 million by the end of April.

A growing number of people are expected to travel in private cars, adding to traffic jams during the holidays, said Zhai Shuanghe, vice director of the Beijing communications department.

More policemen will be put on duty during the holidays, to ensure orderly traffic flows in main streets and to sightseeing spots.

(Cri.com April 26, 2004)