Beijing drivers brace for 'most congested' month

Beijing's 21 million residents have been urged to use public transport and shun peak hours in September as the Chinese capital braces for the gridlock that comes with the beginning of the school year.
Beijing's traffic regulator, which has called next month "the most congested" of this year, has forecast that the city's major roads will be congested from 6:45 a.m. on Monday, with the traffic only dying down around noon.
"A severe traffic congestion is forecast to last from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.," said the Beijing Municipal Commission for Transport.
Travel for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays is also expected to worsen traffic jams, which are a common sight in Beijing.
After analyzing statistics from the past three years, Beijing's traffic watchdog has forecast that as many as 2.36 million vehicles will be traveling within the city's Fifth Ring Road on a daily basis next month, a 4.1 percent surge compared with the rest of the year.
Nine days in September will see severe traffic congestion in Beijing, according to a statement from the commission.