Policemen guide vehicles to go on the reversible lane on Chaoyang Road in Beijing on Thursday, the first day that the reversible lane was in use. There were minor problems on Thursday, as drivers either ignored or didn't see traffic police or signs. Photo: Li Hao/GT

As of Thursday, special reversible lanes were trialed on a road in Beijing to see whether these lanes can relieve congestion during the city's worst month for traffic, according to an official from the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau  (BTMB).

During the rush hours from 5 pm to 8 pm, cars exiting the city using two of the four-lanes of Chaoyang Road on the stretch between Jingguang Bridge and Ciyunsi Bridge are able to access a temporary third lane, Yuan Ming, an official with the bureau in charge of optimizing transportation, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

September is beginning to experience the heaviest traffic congestion of any month so far this year due to a series of holidays and the start of the new semester, according to Liu Jianjun, an official with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport.

The reversible "tidal flow" lanes refer to lanes designed to adapt to the rush-hour inflows of traffic in the morning and the outflows in the evenings, according to a notice published Wednesday on BTMB's official website.

In this way, a total of three lanes can convey the large outflow of the cars, with only one for those entering the city, which would separate flows from west to east on East Chang'an Avenue, the most important street in the capital, thus relieving traffic pressure at peak hours, it said.

The drivers on the tidal flow lane were directed by newly-installed overhead traffic lights and lit street signs indicating which lanes are open or closed for traffic, according to the notice.

 "This move makes full use of transportation resources," Song Guohua, an expert with the urban transportation research at Beijing Jiaotong University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

But their effectiveness in terms of combating the traffic jams plaguing Beijing remains to be seen, added Song.

A female driver told the Global Times on condition of anonymity that because she was unfamiliar with the new rules, she could not turn to the side road at the intersection of Jingguang Bridge and was forced to drive on the reversible lane, which created some inconvenience in terms of picking up her friend on the side road.

Several motorists drove in the wrong direction on the reversible lane at the intersection of Jingguang Bridge on Thursday, but traffic police corrected the problems and no accidents were caused.

It will take some time for drivers to become familiar with the altered lanes, said Wang           Hongjun, a police officer in charge of the Hujialou section of the Chaoyang traffic police section, adding that at the very beginning when the reversible lanes are being put into use, a large number of traffic police will be there to help guide the traffic in case of a traffic accident.

But drivers will also be punished once they break the traffic regulations regarding reversible lanes, said Wang.

This pilot scheme will spread to more roads in other districts if it proves effective, according to Yuan Ming.