Guangzhou, a city of 12.7 million, is having trouble with traffic and air pollution. Now the city is considering a plan where you get to keep your license plate for ten years, and then the government takes your plate away and gives it to a new driver.
Your car wouldn't exactly get sent to the junkyard once you get your license plate taken away, it's just that you'd have to reenter a city-wide lottery to get a new plate. China Car Times reports, however, that Chinese automotive expert Jin Xinguang told the China National Radio that "this is basically equivalent to telling a car owner he has to scrap his car in 10 years."
How does the lottery work? Well, there are so many people and so many cars in the city that you can't just go to the DMV and register a new car. Guangzhou only gives out 120,000 new license plates a year. You have to enter into a lottery to get a license plate, or if your car has a big engine (>2.5 liters) you have to buy a license plate in an auction.
Do you think this kind of 10 year license plate limit would cut down congestion in cities like LA, or is a limit like this unthinkably authoritarian?
Photo Credit: AP