Beijingisn'ttheonlycitywithtrafficproblems.Youcangetstuckinatrafficjamanywhereintheworld.Forexample,inEurope,mostcapitalcitieswereplannedandbuiltbeforecars,andtrafficjamsincitycentre(61)___(be)part
Beijing isn't the only city with traffic problems.You can get stuck in a traffic jam anywhere in the world.For example,in Europe,most capital cities were planned and built before cars,and traffic jams in city centre (61)___(be) part of daily life since the 1960s.
The situation in central London,(62)___ drivers spent fifty percent of their time in queues,became so bad that the local government decided to do something about it.In February 2003,the Mayor of London introduced a"congestion charge"-a tax for cars (63)___ (enter) the centre of the city.The idea was simple:every car that came to the centre had to pay 5pounds (64)___ day.Most Londoners were not happy (65)___ the idea.But there were a few people who thought the charge should be much (66)___ (high),because this would keep more cars out of central London,and the roads would be (67)___ (near) empty.
Did the congestion charge work?Two thirds of the (68)___(investigate) carried out at the end of 2003suggested it did.After only six months,cars in central London(69)___ (reduce) by about 30percent.More people used public transport,and bicycles were suddenly very popular.What's more,central London shops did not lose business (70)___there were fewer cars.