The sun is shining, the temperature is pleasant, and while the popularity of camping in country parks is rising, the surrounding parking problems are also relatively prominent. In order to alleviate tourists' parking anxiety, some roads around the park allow "on-the-road parking on holidays", and some open free shuttle buses.
There are large forest parks on both sides of Tonghuai Road/Reporter's mapping
On the west side of Tonghuai Road is the Urban Green Heart Forest Park, and on the east side is the Grand Canal Forest Park, both of which have large areas, high-standard greenery and spacious camping sites. Both parks are located outside the East Sixth Ring Road, the nearest subway station is three kilometers away, and the citizens who visit the parks are generally family-oriented, and they also bring tents, campers and other equipment, so it is not convenient to take the bus, so most citizens choose to drive there. But last Saturday, the reporter saw at the scene that the citizens were not too anxious about parking, and bluntly said "convenient".
Citizen: Generally speaking, it is very convenient, everyone is so easy to park, and the management is more humane.
Citizen: The combination of dredging and blockage, this method has been studied by the government quite well.
There are signs on both sides of the road that read "Stop in the direction of the road on holidays" / photographed by reporters
Indeed, on Tonghuai Road, which is sandwiched between the two parks, about 3.5 kilometers of road is hung with signs on both sides of the road that reads "Stop in the right direction on holidays". Although it occupies part of the non-motorized lanes and there is no special roadside parking space, due to the wide road, parking and cycling do not affect each other.
Citizen: If we bring our children, it is impossible to say that we will walk for a short time and leave, but it must be half a day. Yes, it's free to stop in this direction. (According to the regulations) roadside parking is also convenient for people to come out of the small door, and now this location is more convenient than the parking lot.
Citizen: There are not so many resources in the parking lot, and these resources on the roadside can also be used. The Green Heart Park itself has more doors, and it is unlikely that each gate will match a parking lot for it, so it is also convenient for the public.
Citizen: From a cycling point of view, this road is actually very well built. After the car is parked on both sides, the non-motorized lane can still have a width of about 1.5 meters, which basically does not have much impact on the cyclist.
The two key words on the sign are "holidays" and "forward" / photographed by reporters
The Grand Canal Forest Park opened in 2010 and the City Green Heart Forest Park opened in 2020. Citizens recalled:
Citizen: It didn't work, it turned out to be inconvenient. In the past, there was no order to park, it was more chaotic, and there were in either direction, anyway, it was how convenient it was for you.
Citizen: The traffic management department will remind and send a reminder text message, which is probably equivalent to how long you have to move if you have violated the park, which is feasible.
Reporter: It turns out that stopping here is illegal.
Citizen: I should be, because I received (reminder text messages).
Car owners consciously parked their cars as close to the side of the road as possible/photographed by reporters
Since September last year, Tonghuai Road has allowed "holiday parking" on the road around the park. Self-driving car owners interpret that there are two key words - "holidays" and "forward". At the time of the interview, the reporter did not see the traffic police or park staff maintaining order at the scene, but the parking order was very good. Self-driving car owners said that since the relevant departments have actively taken effective measures to alleviate the parking problem, we must not only consciously comply, but also be more careful when parking.
Citizen: Because it's not a paid parking lot, it's definitely at your own risk, and you must park your car properly.
Citizen: Forward means that if you say let's stop in the direction of north, don't face south. The second is that the car should be a little closer to the road. Our drivers must pay attention when they stop and open the door, because after all, this is a non-motorized road, after all, it is convenient for us to drive, so we must also pay attention to pedestrians and bicycles.
There is a riding space after parking on the non-motorized lane of Tonghuai Road/photographed by reporters
However, citizens also admit that not all country parks have the conditions to "park in the direction of holidays".
Citizens: Convenient parking has now become a convenient condition to attract tourists to travel around the country, the key is not to hinder road traffic, (holiday parking) which itself is a full use of resources.
Citizen: This also depends on the size of the specific park, the flow of visitors, including the number of parking spaces around, and investigate several times to see if it is more suitable (adopt the scheme of forward parking on holidays).
Citizens: At least it can't affect the passage of motor vehicles and non-motor vehicles, so there must be more than two lanes.
Citizen: The roads around the old park have actually been built for many years, and the parking needs were not taken into account when it was built, so if you let it park in the direction now, it will occupy the entire non-moving lane.
Citizen: As long as the management is in place. The main thing is to rely on self-awareness, you yourself a very good park, since there are many cars, you have such a reality, then you should think about how to facilitate the people.
Zhao Yixin, director of the transportation branch of the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, said that measures such as "parking in the direction of holidays" can be replicated according to local conditions.
Zhao Yixin: Country parks do park parking it is still not too rigid parking demand, in fact, it is still seasonal or phased, I think we can take some temporary parking facilities and temporary management to meet everyone's short-term needs.
The parking lot of Greenheart Park is full on weekend afternoons/Photo by reporters
Liu Yun, a senior engineer at the Transportation Planning Institute of the Beijing Municipal Institute of Urban Planning and Design, believes that the demand for parking in country parks has outstanding seasonal characteristics, and at the same time, the turnover rate of parking spaces is low due to travel purposes, and the blind construction of new parking lots may sacrifice green space.
Liu Yun: It is possible that this car will be parked in this parking space on this day in the country park, and it basically has no turnover rate, so its parking problem will be more prominent. [We] have done a lot of research on parks, and more than half of the parking lots in these parks are vacant on weekdays, and the usage rate is high after the weekends, and the parking volume is basically ten times higher on holidays. There are more than 300 days in the whole year, and the super peak time is almost 20 days. We can't afford to offer a particularly large amount of parking space just for 20 days.
Cheng Shidong, director of the Urban Transportation Center of the Comprehensive Transportation Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, suggested that the openness of country parks should be further increased, and self-driving vehicles should be naturally diverted through multiple directions and entrances and exits, so as not to form excessive parking pressure at one entrance.
Citizen: I don't think there is any need to close this park in the suburbs, if the park itself is open, it has more roads to enter this park. Then everyone is relatively not so concentrated, the more open it is, the more dispersed, the more dispersed we can choose the parking place, whether it is a fixed parking place, or a flexible parking place, it will be more convenient.
Liu Yun, senior engineer of the Transportation Planning Institute of the Beijing Municipal Institute of Urban Planning and Design, pointed out that the planning and renewal of parking methods in country parks is also a part of urban renewal that needs to be considered.
Liu Yun: In fact, the renewal of our construction land is not only the construction land in the city, but also the non-construction land, because it has changed from a closed green space in the past to an open country park open to the public, and its passenger flow will be very demanding. Under such conditions, the surrounding facilities, including roads, traffic, and parking, also need to be adjusted and improved according to these characteristics. Try to comb through some green spaces under the park for some temporary parking on weekends. We recommend using the spacing of road trees, because generally the spacing of road trees is between 5 meters and 6 meters, and the spacing of trees is 6 meters by 6 meters.
"Cherry Blossom Viewing Line" remote connection route map / from the Internet
This year, the "cherry blossom viewing line" opened in Haidian District is eye-catching. Although Yuyuantan Park is not located in the suburbs and public transportation is relatively convenient, and the six parking lots that tourists can reach on foot can provide 1,135 parking spaces, it is still unable to meet the demand for seasonal parking during the cherry blossom festival. Therefore, this year, Haidian District has launched a diversion measure for remote parking and shuttle bus connection for the first time, guiding tourists to park their vehicles in the Wukesong underground parking lot and take the free "cherry blossom viewing line" to alleviate the traffic and parking pressure on the roads around Yuyuantan Park. Liu Yun believes that both urban parks and country parks need to be supplemented with more public travel modes to make it easier for citizens to reach public leisure places.
Liu Yun: It is very important to improve the level of bus service, and the integration of slow traffic space is particularly important. We also recommend that public transport provide more efficient connections to nearby metro stations, such as long-distance and fast-reach bus routes, for example. In fact, there are urban roads around our country parks, and there are still conditions to do it.
To alleviate the parking pressure around country parks, whether it is the flexible use of existing space or the construction of new parking lots, it cannot be implemented without public service management and the conscious cooperation of citizens. We look forward to more convenient and diversified green travel methods, flexible and effective management methods, and also hope that citizens and friends will consciously cultivate the awareness of rules and the concept of paying for the use of public resources, so that parking will no longer be troubled when visiting the park.
Reporter: Li Tianyi
Editors: Li Tianyi, Yang Lanying (intern)
Editor-in-Chief: Zhu Laisheng