Beijing to halve car traffic during Olympics

Tracy Quek, Straits Times 24 Jan 08;
Half of the city's 3.3 million cars will be grounded to cut pollution

BEIJING - BEIJING has settled on a plan to ground half of its cars to guarantee good air quality for the Olympics - about half a million more than the number it banned during a test last year.

At a four-day trial last August, Beijing yanked about a third of its 3.3 million cars off roads to see if the measure could be relied on to significantly alleviate air pollution and traffic congestion in the Chinese capital during the August Games.

The wider ban suggests that barring a third of the city's cars had not improved air quality or eased gridlock roads as much as desired, and that officials are hoping for better results with more cars left at home.

After last year's test, officials said that harmful pollutants in the air dropped by as much as 20 per cent, even though the skies remained visibly smoggy.

They also reported smoother flow of traffic in the Chinese capital, home to some 15 million people.

The temporary limit barred cars with licence plate numbers ending in odd or even numbers from entering the city on alternate days.

At that time, officials had refused to confirm if the same measure would be implemented in the run-up to and during the Games.

On Tuesday, Beijing traffic officials submitted their 50 per cent car ban plan to the advisory body to Beijing's Municipal Congress, which is having its annual legislative session, local media reported.

More public transport services would be provided during the ban.

The announcement of the move to limit car numbers coincided with the unveiling of a detailed national plan by the country's top environmental watchdog to rein in air and water pollution this year, in order to meet a national goal to cut pollution emissions by 10 per cent by 2010.

The measures - which include the shutting down of more heavy polluting and high energy consuming factories, improvement of sewage treatment facilities and strict limits on fish farms - are also to ensure a green Olympics, said Mr Zhou Shengxian, head of the State Environmental Protection Administration, at a work conference.

While the plan does not propose radically new clean-up actions, it reflects the will to rev up current efforts.

Officials have less than three years to achieve the 10 per cent emissions reduction target which Premier Wen Jiabao has said must be met.

The city of Beijing has, however, less than 200 days to clear the smog for the world's elite sporting event which runs from Aug 8 to 24.

But with still no dramatic difference in air quality, city officials are getting nervous.

On Sunday, Beijing's acting mayor Guo Jinlong said at the start of the city's legislative meeting that 'the task of controlling pollution and traffic congestion remains arduous'.

In recent months, a growing number of Olympic athletes have expressed reservations about taking part in some open-air events in the city.

Ethiopian long-distance champion Haile Gebrselassie became the latest athlete to contemplate pulling out of an event over health fears. He said yesterday that the pollution and August heat could keep him out of the Beijing Olympic marathon.

Meanwhile, Beijing is also busy cleaning up in other ways.

The city's top official and Olympics organising chief Liu Qi yesterday urged officials to 'solve the problem' of beggars and unlicensed businesses before the Games, but to be 'civilised' when enforcing the law.

Beijing has pledged to clear its streets of beggars and unregistered businesses, such as mobile snack vendors and hair salons acting as a front for prostitution.