New Beijing law cuts 800,000 cars from roads per day
mongabay.com
October 13, 2008
A new traffic law will cut the number of cars on Beijing roads by 800,000 per day, reports Chinese state media.
The restriction, which goes into effect today, affects 70 percent of vehicles, including government, private and corporate cars. Cars will be restricted one day per week based on their license plate number.
“Cars whose number plates end with 1 or 6 will be taken off roads on Monday, while those ending with 2 or 7 will be banned on Tuesday, 3 or 8 on Wednesday, 4 or 9 on Thursday and 5 or 0 on Friday,” reported Xinhua.
The ban — which is enforced with a 100-yuan ($14.70) fine — does not apply on weekends. The follows a similar trial two-month ban that was implemented to reduce pullution during the recent Olympics and Paralympics. According to officials, the measure took 2 million cars of the roads, increased traffic speed by 20 percent, and “helped reduce” vehicle emissions by almost 120,000 metric tons.