Beijing to reduce road traffic, improve air quality

(BEIJING, June 20) -- Beijing will follow international practice to enact traffic control during the Olympic and Paralympic Games with an aim of cutting the number of vehicles on the roads, improving air quality and facilitating public transport, an official said on Friday.

From July 1 to September 20 this year, Beijing-registered automobiles will hit the roads on an alternate-day basis, according to Zhou Zhengyu, vice director and spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Commission of Communications.

Vehicles with license plates ending in odd numbers will be banned from the roads on even-numbered calendar days, and those with plates ending in even numbers will be banned from the roads on odd-numbered days, he elaborated to the media at a press conference in Beijing. Government agencies are expected to take the lead by getting some 70 percent of their vehicles off the roads, he added.

To minimize inconvenience to the public, he said, the municipal government will extend operation hours of buses and subway lines, increase the number of buses and reduce intervals of subway trains, and stagger peak work schedule hours. The government will also reduce taxes and maintenance fees on vehicles following the restrictions.

Responding to a question from the press, Zhou said the measures are expected to help cut 45 percent of traffic volume during the Games, taking into account the existing 3.29 million automobiles in the capital city.

Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Administration, told reporters that the alternate-day driving practice may cut down 63 percent of auto emissions, or 118,000 tons of pollutant gases.

Zhou gave examples of how host cities of previous Olympic Games, like Athens, Seoul and Atlanta, took similar measures, including incorporating a special Olympic lane, alternate-day driving and encouragement of public transport, to ensure smooth and punctual traffic for the Games without harming the interests of the public.