Beijing put 200 more buses on the city's streets on Saturday for
the convenience of citizens who left their cars at home to support
"Car Free Day".
In some downtown areas in Beijing, only public transport and
service vehicles will be allowed from 7 am to 7 pm in the day.
Beijing is one of the 108 Chinese cities, which also include
Shanghai, Jinan, Fuzhou, Kunming, Changsha and Taiyuan, that
responded positively to the "Car Free Day".
"Since the 'Car Free Day' is meant to reduce pollution and
traffic jams,all drivers should support this," said Li Ming, a taxi
driver in Beijing.
In Fuzhou, capital city of the eastern Fujian Province, banners
printed? with "Green Travel" appeared in most busy
streets.
"Green travel is both the responsibility of the public and the
government. As the public transport system can't satisfy people's
needs, many people turn to private cars. The government should try
to improve the public transport system so people will use private
cars less," said Xu Doudou, head of the humanity institute of
Fuzhou University.
Every September 22 is a "Car Free Day" in many countries around
the world.
Chengdu, capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province,
pioneered China's first "Car Free Day" on October 14, 2000. It
resulted in a 37.5 percent drop in traffic accidents and
significant noise reduction.
Saturday marks China's first large-scale participation in "Car
Free Day" activities. The number of cars dropped noticeably in most
of the participating cities on the day.
(Xinhua News Agency September 23, 2007)