Beijing restricts cars to help clear city air for Olympics

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Normally snarled traffic flowed smoothly in most areas, althoughskies were hazy, a sign that it could be several days before theimpact of the measures — which also include constructionscutbacks and factory closures — is noticeable.
Under the two-month operation that started Sunday, half of thecapital's 3.3 million cars will be removed from city streets onalternate days depending on whether their license plates end in anodd or even number.
Sun Weide, spokesman for Beijing's Olympic organizing committee,said the plan should reduce vehicle emissions — a major causeof the city's stifling pollution — by about 63%.
Changes in air quality will be monitored by experts from the city'senvironment protection bureau, which has 27 survey stations aroundBeijing and another 18 in Olympic venues, according to thestate-run Beijing Times newspaper.
So far, "the air in the city is good, the density of pollutants hasfallen," the report said, citing the bureau.
But it will take at least 20 days for results to be conclusive, DuShaozhong, its deputy director was cited as saying.
Employers have also been asked to stagger work schedules and publicinstitutions opened an hour later than normal to help easegridlock.
Already, "it can be easily felt that traffic is less heavy now andthe number of vehicles on the road is clearly smaller," Sun said."We predict that we could achieve our goal."
Foreign experts say the plan could still go wrong becauseunpredictable winds might blow pollution from other provinces intoBeijing, or a lack of wind — common in August — couldenable local pollution to build up.
On Monday, traffic moved at a steady clip along main thoroughfaresand highways.
"Before we would be at a dead standstill," said a taxi driver whowould give only his surname, Zhang. "Now it's better."
Drivers with even-numbered plates were forced to take publictransportation and the government estimated that that would mean anextra 4 million commuters.
In order to meet the demand, the city was trying to shorten thetime between subway trains from three minutes to two. But thattriggered some glitches on Monday as officials tried out a newsignal system, the official Xinhua News Agency said on its website.
Some stops were forced to close for a few minutes as trains arrivedlate and the number of passengers waiting on platforms swelled.
The Jianguomen stop — a major interchange for Line 1, whichcircles the heart of the city, and the east-west Line 2 —shut down for about 20 minutes because it was too crowded, said awoman who answered the telephone at the subway information hotline.
"There are many more people on the subway at this hour comparedwith before," said Wang Kai as he stepped off an afternoon train."However I support the restrictions because it means the airquality will improve."
In addition to the traffic plan, chemical plants, power stationsand foundries had to cut emissions by 30% beginning Sunday. Dusty,noisy construction in the capital had to stop entirely.
Those caught driving on days they shouldn't will be fined theequivalent of US$14, a pricey penalty even for the capital. Itwasn't known how many tickets have been issued; phones rangunanswered all day at the Beijing police traffic management bureau.
On many days, Beijing's skyline can barely be seen because of athick, gray-brown haze that hangs over the city.
Already, many competitors in the Aug. 8-24 Olympics are choosing totrain outside of Beijing, and International Olympic CommitteePresident Jacques Rogge has said outdoor endurance events lastingmore than an hour will be postponed if air quality is poor.
The world's greatest distance runner, Haile Gebrselassie ofEthiopia, has bowed out of the marathon event because the city'spollution irritates his asthma.
Some 300,000 heavily polluting vehicles — aging industrialtrucks, many of which operate only at night — were bannedstarting July 1.
The government has improved public transportation options for theestimated 4 million extra people who will not be able to useprivate vehicles because of the traffic plan, the official XinhuaNews Agency said.
Two new subway lines and an airport rail link were opened over theweekend, with the number of passengers on the three routes expectedto reach 1.1 million daily during the Olympics.
In all, eight lines will transport up to 5 million people dailyduring the games, the company that runs the Beijing subway saidMonday.
The city also plans to add up to 3,000 more buses by the time thegames start, raising the daily capacity for passengers from 12.5million to 15 million, Xinhua said.