By Titilayo Kupoliyi

Traffic congestion can be caused by factors such as accidents, traffic overload, construction and even pedestrians crossing the road incorrectly or holding up vehicles.

In Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, traffic congestion becomes worse due to bad roads, and poor connectivity among other factors.

If you think that what you go through every day while going to and from work is a suffocating traffic jam, then you have not yet heard of the longest traffic jam in history, which lasted 12 days in China in 2010.

On August 14, 2010, something unthinkable happened in China. Beijing witnessed the longest traffic jam in history, extending more than 100 kilometers and lasting 12 days. China was then called “the undisputed queen of traffic jams.”

The congestion began to slow down the movement of thousands of cars, which extended over a length of more than 100 km and continued for 12 days.

Drivers were barely able to move their cars a distance of 1 km each day, and some drivers remained stuck in this traffic jam for more than 5 and 6 consecutive days.

The main reason behind the traffic congestion was some work and maintenance that was taking place on the highway linking Beijing and Tibet near the capital, Beijing, in conjunction with a surge of heavy trucks on the road, which reduced the highway’s capacity by 50% and some accidents exacerbated the problem.

Another important reason for this stifling crisis was the increase in the number of trucks transporting coal from Mongolia to the capital, Beijing, where in 2009 it transported 602 million tons of coal, which rose in 2010 to 730 million tons.

The Chinese authorities tried to find a solution to this problem and asked coal companies to postpone transportation operations and tried to bring more trucks into the capital at night until the situation was eliminated, which the authorities succeeded in doing, as they completely eliminated traffic congestion by the end of August 2010.

Some local residents near the site of the crowding took advantage of the opportunity and began selling food and water to the stranded drivers at double prices. Some drivers even preferred hunger rather than buying these expensive goods.

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