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Beijing enforces new road ban

By Zhang Haizhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-29 09:00

All of Beijing's private cars will be banned from the roads for one day a week for a six-month trial period starting on October 11, the municipal government said yesterday.

Cars with license plates ending in 1 or 6 will be banned on Mondays. Those with plates ending in 2 or 7 on Tuesdays, 3 or 8, Wednesdays, and so on. The ban will not apply on weekends.

The ban will be applicable within the Fifth Ring Road from 6 am to 9 pm for private cars, and round the clock for government and company vehicles, the municipal government said.

From Wednesday, 30 percent of government vehicles will also be taken off the roads.

The ban does not apply to police vehicles, ambulances, fire engines, buses, and taxis.

The new restrictions are meant to sustain the smooth traffic flow and good air quality experienced during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Beijing municipal traffic management bureau said on its website.

While many people yesterday applauded the ban on government and company vehicles, on private cars, however, the ban sparked an outcry.

"I need to take my daughter home from boarding school on Friday," Beijing bank clerk Zhang Min said. His number ends with 0, which means it will be banned on Fridays.

"I will probably have to buy another car," he said.

More than 2,400 people posted comments on the sina.com website within two hours of the annoucenment of the ban. Very few supported the ban on private cars.

"To ban should not be the only way to ease Beijing's traffic woes," one posting read. "Our city and its roads should be better planned instead."

While most people were tolerant of the two-month ban on vehicles on alternate days during the Olympics and Paralympics, many private car owners were not in favor of taking public transport even for just one day a week.

The debate on whether the ban should stay after the Games has gone on for weeks and the authorities, apparently finding it difficult, have come up with a last-minute solution.

Along with the ban, the authorities have also called on employers to adopt more flexible work hours to ease road congestion.

Downtown department stores have been advised to open at 10 am, instead of 9 am, and extend closing by an hour.

The government is also considering raising downtown parking fees but no details are available yet, the Xinhua News Agency said.

Xinhua contributed to the story