Beijing Parks Cars To Clear Olympic Air

Half Of Chinese Capital's Commuters Take Public Transport As New Restrictions Begin

(CBS/AP)  Half of Beijing's drivers left their cars at home and took public transportation instead on Monday, the first workday under new restrictions meant to clear this city's notoriously polluted skies before next month's Olympics.

Under a two-month plan that started Sunday, half of the capital's 3.3 million cars will be removed from city streets on alternate days, depending on whether the license plate ends in an odd or even number.

Those caught driving on days they shouldn't will be fined $14, a pricey penalty even for China's capital.

Drivers with even-numbered plates were forced Monday to take public transportation, where crowds remained surprisingly manageable. That's likely because employers have been asked to stagger work schedules, and public institutions will open an hour later than normal.

"It seems that the subway isn't as busy as I expected. There are fans and air conditioning, so you don't feel very hot," said Chen Songde, who normally drives to work in Beijing.

Traffic still snaked along main thoroughfares and highways Monday, but it moved at a steady pace.

"Before we would be at a dead standstill," said a taxi driver who would give only his surname, Zhang, as he steered around cars. "Now it's better."

Pollution isn't the Olympic officials' only concern in China. The government remains jittery over the threat of terrorism, too.

On Friday, the authorities issued advice for people to follow should they be kidnapped by terrorists: Remain calm, don't fight back and try to send a text message to the police.

On Monday, explosions on two public buses in southwest China killed two people and wounded 14, heightening fears of terrorism. The blasts occurred Monday morning in downtown Kunming city in southwest Yunnan province.

Local authorities said it was a deliberate act. They closed roads and set up checkpoints to try to prevent suspects from escaping.

It could be several days before the impact of the pollution cleanup plan, which also includes cutbacks on construction and factory closures, is noticeable. The government has not made public a specific target for vehicle emission levels, one of the city's biggest sources of pollution, or said how it will measure air quality.

Experts say the plan could still go wrong because unpredictable winds could blow pollution into Beijing from other provinces or the lack of wind - common in August - could enable local pollution to build up.

However, Sun Weide, spokesman for the Beijing Olympics organizing committee, was optimistic.

"It can be easily felt that traffic is less heavy now and the number of vehicles on the road is clearly smaller," Sun said. "The weather has been good since yesterday."

Two new subway lines and an airport rail link were opened over the weekend, with the projected number of passengers on the three routes expected to reach 1.1 million daily during the Olympics.

In all, eight lines will transport up to 5 million people daily during the Olympics, the company that runs the Beijing subway said Monday.

Besides the traffic plan, chemical plants, power stations and foundries had to cut emissions by 30 percent beginning Sunday. Dusty, noisy construction in the capital was to stop entirely.

On many days, Beijing's skyline can barely be seen because of a thick, gray-brown haze that hangs over the city.

Already, many competitors in the Aug. 8-24 games are choosing to train away from Beijing, and International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge has said that outdoor endurance events lasting more than an hour will be postponed if air quality is poor.

The world's greatest distance runner, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, has bowed out of the marathon event because the city's pollution irritates his breathing.

Some 300,000 heavily polluting vehicles - aging industrial trucks, many of which operate only at night - were banned beginning July 1.

The government has also improved public transportation options for the estimated 4 million extra people who will be off the roads because of the traffic plan, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The city plans to add up to 3,000 more buses by the time the games start, raising the daily capacity for passengers from 12.5 million to 15 million, Xinhua said.

[displeased]

Wouldn''''t it be nice if all those people suddenly wondered why they don''''t take public transportation more often?
Posted by lovesamerica

Perhaps us Americans will learn something from this. But I doubt it.

[deacon20081]

docpeter ..
I agree with you. All of the asians I know and have known since my Viet Nam days have always been very friendly though shy, respectful and considerate peoples.

[deacon20081]

I''ll hear about the games but I will most probably not watch them. (I usually don''t anyway)

Our fuel prices would benefit if the OIl Companies would reopen the 150 refinerys they took off line over the last several years. Out of 300, 150 are closed. Can''t imagine why.

[lovesamerica]

Wouldn''t it be nice if all those people suddenly wondered why they don''t take public transportation more often? If I had access to it I sure would be using it!!!

[lochlan-2009]

chenz66- Jinx. You beat me by a minute.

[lochlan-2009]

So now that china (the number one excuse for demand on oil) is cutting the amount of cars on the road by 1.65 million, oil prices should be droping. Right?

[chenz66]

Since the cars will be parked maybe the price of oil will go down since the demand will not be there for a couple of weeks.

[displeased]

China is a violent and backwards country who has no right to host the Olympics.
Posted by MyOpinion1

Like we have any right to criticize violence.

[k9kool]

Probably because most of your fellow Americans see for what you are "an ***"

[docpeter-2009]

Posted by MyOpinion1 at 07:30 AM : Jul 21, 2008, "China is a violent and backwards country who has no right to host the Olympics. The Olympics stand for sportsmanship and friendship, not communism and violence and bloodshed."
___________________________

Spoken like a truly ill-informed American. I have been to China twice and was treated like royalty. The people there are in reality very nice, courteous, and genuine.

Not like many Americans. I have many Chinese friends and, really, prefer them over most of the Americans I have met. This is coming from an American white boy.

It is NOT the people that have screwed things up, BUT IS the governmental ideologies of the two different countries. Just look at how much GWB has ruined this great country.

Learn more before you speak.

[greeneyes222]

China is so munged up and polluted that this is going to be very little help.

[joechristine]

China is a violent and backwards country who has no right to host the Olympics. The Olympics stand for sportsmanship and friendship, not communism and violence and bloodshed. Their country is overcrowded, filthy and mismanaged.


-------------------------------------------

Posted by MyOpinion1 at 07:30 AM : Jul 21, 2008

American nationalism has kept themselves from appreciating the great strides made around the world in the past 20 years. American need to get out of their collective bubble and start engaging those people as equals. The era of American arrogance is over. We are all people, and all capable of great progress. If American don''t learn to respect other countries, they will simply grow without USA and form strong alliances and relationships amongst themselves as they have already begun to do.

[carlylaine]

and SHOOT....if it only takes a couple of weeks to ''clear the nasty smog-ridden air..." why don''t we do that...what with global warming and all.