China's capital city strives to clear skies

By Huma Sheikh
http://www.cctv.com/english/20090502/101057.shtml
BEIJING, April 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Clearing the skies has been a major cause for concern for Beijing. The capital city has recently put in place a new pollution limits regulation for cars in Beijing to control climate-changing gases. Thousands of cars a day add to the list of Beijing's millions of vehicles, setting the stage for more pollution and traffic jam woes. The capital city is the hardest hit by the sweeping number of cars and during the peak time, a five-kilometer stretch could take a passenger a couple of hours to cover it. The new traffic rule follows the earlier Olympic and post-Olympic restrictions on vehicles. In order to help improve air quality during the Olympics and Paralympics last year, Beijing restricted use of vehicles through a system based on odd, even numbers. The system, which was in place from July 20 to September 20 in 2008, allowed cars with even number as their last digit on the number plate to hit the roads on even number days while cars with an odd last digit number would run on odd number days. The rule applied to an odd-even license plate system alternately. The rules were, however not applied to public buses, taxis, long-distance transportation and police cars, fire trucks, ambulance, wrecking cars or Olympic-used cars. During the two-month period, the system helped limit 45 percent cars and cleared the skies. But as the ban was lifted on September 20, traffic jams resumed. The government, after Olympic regulations showed promise, came up with another six-month rule to cut release of climate-changing pollution, especially carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. It adopted a regulation with relatively fewer restrictions. In post-Olympics car restrictions, from October 11,2008 to April 10, 2009, cars with number plates ending one or six were off the roads on Mondays, while those ending with two or seven on Tuesdays, three or eight on Wednesdays, four or nine Thursdays and five or zero Fridays. Weekends were free of the ban. The ban was effective from 6 am to 9 pm each day, excluding weekends. The ban also applied to government vehicles as 70 percent of them would take turns to run on roads on weekdays. However, it did not apply to police vehicles, ambulances, fire engines, buses, taxis and other public service vehicles. While the environmental protection regulation generated remarkable results-- removing more than a million vehicles from the streets each day--people were confused about the one-month rotation of the rules. In other words, a car owner who was off the roads on Mondays in the previous month had to drive on Mondays in the current month and the process rotated the same way throughout the six-month rule. The current rules, which took effect from April 10, 2009 and last a year, are designed to address confusion of people. Now a person can stick to his same off-day schedule for 13 weeks in a row than the four-week regulation previously while the number-based regulation will remain the same; cars with license plates ending with zero or five will be banned from the roads on Monday, plates ending with one or six on Tuesday, two or seven on Wednesday and so on.
There has been another change in the new traffic regulation. The ban will be effective from 7am to 8 pm on weekdays instead of the previous 6 am-9 pm rule.
The new rules are expected to take off the roads 20 percent of the city's 3.61 million vehicles each day, excluding on weekends.
"I felt like I saw the sky in Beijing for the first time during the Olympics. The sky would always be hazier in Beijing, but during the Olympics, I actually saw the blue sky. I liked it so much. It was such a visible and clear sky. I hope the government make the current rules as stricter as during the Olympics," said Pliny, a colleague of mine at Xinhuanet. Chris, another colleague, said the new rules are more convenient for people, especially for car owners. The two-hour relaxation from the previous regulation has given a chance to car owners to avail the time. In other words, they can enjoy early morning drive until 7 am and drive for a few hours after 8 pm.
"I am in favor of traffic rules in Beijing, given the terrible traffic situation here. It is a great relief from huge traffic jams, even though some car owners are troubled by the regulation," said Amy.
Karl said: " I fully support the current traffic rules. Although I don't own a car, seeing less cars on the streets while I walk down to my university and work place, presents a better picture of traffic management in Beijing besides providing a cleaner environment."
"I feel bad because I can't drive everyday now. But it is a wake up call for all of us, especially when climate change caused by gas emissions is increasingly threatening lives of people. It is high time that we all kept our environment clean and look for a chance to contribute to it in one way or the other," says a car owner.
Another car owner said: "before Olympics, I hardly realized how hard it was for people in public buses to travel amid serpentine line of cars. But when I started using public transportation it opened my eyes to the reality. The explosion in number of cars in Beijing is a major contributor to Beijing's hazier skies."