A Beijing official said Wednesday that the municipality plans to control the number of automobiles in the urban area during a conference on urban planning, the Beijing Times reported.
Liu Yumin, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning, said that related departments had begun planning on how to control the number of automobiles, as a response to the rapid increase in automobiles, and that the traffic management department would publish the plan.
"If we can not solve the traffic problem, the significance of any other achievements would be weakened," Liu said.
Liu also said that buses would still be the main mode of transportation in Beijing's urban area in the future.