Beijing yesterday announced a drill to test the effectiveness of
the Olympic host city's efforts to improve air quality and ease
traffic congestion.
From August 17 to 20, about 1.3 million vehicles - nearly half
of the total 3 million in the city - will be ordered off the roads
as part of pre-Olympic tests, according to the capital city's
environmental and traffic authorities.
On August 17 and 19 (Friday and Sunday), only vehicles with the
license plate number ending with the odd numeral will be allowed on
the roads.
On August 18 and August 20 (Saturday and Monday), it's plates
ending with an even number.
The rule applies to Beijing-registered vehicles as well as those
from outside the city.
Du Shaozhong, spokesman for the Beijing Environmental Protection
Bureau, said air quality will be monitored during the
vehicle-reduction days.
"Let's see the correlation between air quality and the number of
running vehicles," he said.
"Data from the tests will be collected and analyzed to improve
air quality," Du said, adding vehicle emissions are a leading cause
of urban pollution.
In addition to the 27 air quality monitoring stations spread
across all the 18 districts and counties, three new stations and
two new mobile monitor vehicles will be put to use, he added.
Vehicles which will be exempt from the drill will include those
of the police, ambulance, fire, postal and breakdown services and
the public transit system as well as those belonging to embassies
and international organizations.
Zhai Shuanghe, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Traffic
Management Bureau said the drill will test the city's public
transport.
Rush hour services of the bus and metro systems will be extended
to three hours, 6:30 AM to 9:30 AM, from the usual two hours, 7 AM
to 9 AM.
Civic servants are supposed to arrive in office half an hour
earlier at 8 AM, and shopping malls will open doors one hour later
at 10 AM.
Currently, the public transit system carries 31 percent of the
traveling public and is the most popular means of transport after
walking.
Beijing runs 19,105 buses, two metro lines and two light rail
transits lines.
During the test period, the public transit system will operate
at full capacity. Besides, another 700 to 800 backup buses will be
used, Zhai said.
Some cities around the world - such as Athens, Manila and Sao
Paolo - restrict vehicles according to odd or even numbers on
license plates.
(China Daily August 10, 2007)
