Beijing halves traffic for a clean Olympics

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-6-21  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

BEIJING is to pull half its 3.3 million vehicles off the road for two months to help clean up the city's air for the Olympics and Paralympics, the municipal government said yesterday.

Vehicles will be allowed on the roads on alternate days - according to even or odd car registration numbers - from July 20 until September 20.

In addition, 300,000 heavy polluting vehicles - aging industrial trucks, many of which operate only at night - will be banned from July 1.

The Olympics take place from August 8 to 24 followed by the Paralympics from September 6 to 17. About 500,000 foreigners are expected to attend the Games, along with 10,000 athletes and about 30,000 journalists.

About 45 percent of all vehicles and up to 70 percent of the 300,000 government-owned cars will be banned from roads every day, Zhou Zhengyu, deputy head of the Beijing Municipal Committeee of Communications, told reporters.

Officials expect a strong increase in the use of public transport, with new subway lines set to open. Several others have opened in the past year.

Officials said 95 percent of the city's 66,000 taxis would be operating during the Games, with 21,000 buses available.

During a trial run from August 17 to 20 last year, about 1.3 million vehicles were taken off city roads each day and emissions were cut by 5,815 tons, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Environmental Protection.

"This time, it is expected the emissions discharged will be cut by 63 percent, or about 118,000 tons," Du Shaozhong, deputy head of the bureau, told reporters.

Du reiterated that local environmental authorities will be able to ensure good air quality for the Games. "In addition to traffic bans, we will carry out strict supervision of highly-polluting businesses during the Games period," he said.

The municipal government said the restrictions would be enforced throughout the city until August 28, but only in areas within the Fifth Ring Road, and three freeways connecting downtown Beijing to the airport, Badaling and Chengde from August 28 to September 20.

It will also ban all motor vehicles that fail to meet the Euro I exhaust standard, as well as trucks registered outside Beijing without permits from July 1.

To compensate drivers, owners will be exempt from road taxes for three months, costing the government 1.3 billion yuan (US$186 million).