Municipal bodies in Tabriz, the provincial capital of East Azarbaijan, say traffic congestion has significantly decreased since the so-called odd-even traffic scheme was launched in the city in late August.
Sima Nikraftar, managing director of Transportation and Traffic Organization of Tabriz Municipality, says the nuisance of traffic jam in the central part of the city has been alleviated by 43% since the traffic scheme was launched, the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad reported.
Nikraftar emphasized the prominent role of promoting public culture and raising awareness about the successful implementation of the scheme.
"People observed the scheme’s rules even on holidays when no restriction was applied on commutations," she said, adding that the annoying traffic congestion was a serious public concern.
The traffic plan is modeled after Tehran's odd-even scheme, which is aimed at easing traffic congestion and curbing air pollution in the central parts of Tabriz. The municipal officials intend to operate the scheme for a longer term.
Urban managers in Tabriz believe that the implementation of the scheme is a necessity and it will put a cap on the increasing number of vehicles clogging the main thoroughfares of the city.
As per the odd-even rule, cars will be allowed to enter a designated zone on alternate days, depending on the odd and even numbers of the license plate. The rules are valid between 10:30 a.m. to 14:00 p.m. and from 17:00 p.m. to 19:30 p.m. every day, except holidays.
Nikraftar emphasized the importance of making use of other cities’ experiences in this regard and said, "Their information can help us manage traffic in Tabriz more efficiently."
Abandoned Scheme
The authorities in Tabriz were fairly optimist about the odd-even scheme before its launch and strongly hoped that the rules would work out well to ease traffic congestion and air pollution in the metropolis.
The plan in Tabriz has apparently been successful, while municipal bodies in Tehran have just let go of the plan after 14 years of implementing it, due to its major deficiencies and minor success.
As per the odd-even scheme in the capital, cars would enter the designated “restricted zone” on alternate days, depending on the odd and even number of the license plate.
Spread over 88.5 square kilometers in central Tehran, the zone was bound by Imam Ali Expressway in the east, Navvab Expressway and Chamran Highway to the west, Besat Expressway in the south and Hemmat Expressway in the north.
Saturday was earmarked for cars with the last even digit and Friday, being the weekend holiday, was free for all cars.
According to experts, the old scheme failed to deliver.
Tehran Urban Research and Planning Center, in collaboration with centers of higher education, carried out extensive studies on the effectiveness (or lack of it) of the odd-even scheme to determine what should be done to curb the omnipresent air pollution and traffic congestion in the city of over 8 million people.
A survey indicated that car owners, whose license plates ended with an odd number, drove in the restricted zone for 39 days each season, while motorists whose number plates ended with an even number plied the zone for a much lower number of times (26 days).
After a protracted debate among environmentalists and urban planners about the rule, Tehran Municipality replaced the deficient scheme last week with a new plan called Air Pollution Control.
As per the APC scheme, the geographical boundary of the restricted area will remain unchanged, but each vehicle can enter the zone for free for a maximum 20 days each season (three months), or 80 days a year. If motorists wish to enter the zone more than the number of times mentioned in the plan, they need to pay a toll.
