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October 8, 2008 3:44:44 AM CDT

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Beijing Forces Half of Drivers Off the Road

Posted Jul 21, 08 1:10 PM CDT in World 

(AP) – Half of Beijing's drivers left their cars at home today and took public transportation on the first workday under new restrictions meant to clear the city's notoriously polluted skies before the Olympics. Under the plan that kicked in yesterday, half of the capital's 3.3 million cars will be removed from city streets each day, alternating odd and even license plates. Those caught driving on days they shouldn't will be fined $14, a pricey penalty even for China's capital.

In most areas, crowds remained surprisingly manageable, perhaps because employers were asked to stagger work schedules, and public institutions opened an hour later than normal. Traffic still snaked along main thoroughfares and highways, but it moved at a steady pace. "Before we would be at a dead standstill," said one taxi driver. "Now it's better." Two new subway lines and an airport rail link were opened over the weekend.

Source Associated Press

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Commuters crowd a subway train in Beijing Monday, July 21, 2008. Many commuters switched to the subway on Monday, the first workday for restrictions on car use under a bold plan to clear the Olympic...   (Andy Wong)
Commuters crowd a train at a subway station in Beijing Monday, July 21, 2008.   (Andy Wong)
A Chinese boy looks out through the window of a bus as it passes in front of Mao Zedong's picture above Tiananmen Gate in Beijing Monday, July 21, 2008.   (Elizabeth Dalziel)
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China  • 2008 Beijing Olympics  • air pollution  • Asia  • cars  • traffic


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