Vehicles ordered off road for drill [ 2007-08-10 11:41 ] Download

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 the 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.

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