Beijing begins a four-day air quality experiment for the Olympics, Aug. 17, 2007. Drivers with even-numbered license plates were told to stay off the roads on Friday or face fines. On the first day of the test, traffic flow appeared to be lighter. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Beijing began a four-day experiment early on Friday to test whether pulling 1.3 million cars off the capital's roads each day would be effective in reducing air pollution during the Olympics.

    Drivers with even-numbered license plates, excluding taxis, buses and emergency vehicles, were told to stay off the roads on Friday or face fines.

    Odd-numbered cars will be banned on Saturday and Monday, while vehicles with even-numbered registrations must also stay at home on Sunday.

    "The experience we gain from this test will shed light on the adoption of measures to guarantee environmental quality at the Olympic Games next year," said Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau.

    The test period will also indicate if public transport can cope with the higher number of passengers and its effect on easing congestion, said an official with the Municipal Transport Commission.

    Experts say pulling 1.3 million motor vehicles off the roads in Beijing each day can reduce exhaust emissions by 40 percent.

    The air quality index in Beijing on Friday stood at 91 - 51 to 100 represents "fairly good" air quality - which was down from Thursday's figure of 115, classified as "slightly polluted".

    However, an unhealthy haze still hung over the capital on Friday despite the measures to cut Beijing's vehicles by a third.

    Guo Hu, head of the Beijing Meteorological Observatory, said the weather conditions in the city, which is surrounded by mountains on three sides, made it difficult for pollutants to dissipate and it would remain as it was on Friday for the next few days due to a lack of significant cold air currents and any rainfall.

    Shi Hanmin, director of the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, said the test would be of great significance as the atmospheric pollution in Beijing was caused by a combination of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and particulate matter, which largely result from exhaust emissions.

    Tang Xiaoyan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and also a member of the team researching air quality for the Olympics, said rainfall was the thing he feared most during the four-day test.

    "To me, it doesn't matter much whether the air is polluted, or of good quality. If it rains other factors that cause pollution will be totally covered up," said Tang, also a professor with the Environmental Sciences and Engineering College of Peking University.

    "Workers on the research team into Beijing's air quality will give priority to monitoring exhaust emissions during the four-day period and changes in the indicators will be studied closely," said Zhu Tong, a member of the research team.

    Traffic flow appeared to be lighter on the first day of the test. There were fewer motor vehicles on the roads during the morning rush hour and a group of office workers who took shuttle buses to work said they arrived at their offices much earlier than usual.

    Mr Xu, who lives in the outlying Daxing District and owns an off-road Honda with an even-numbered registration, usually drives to his office in Xicheng District, downtown Beijing.

    However, he had to leave his car home on Friday morning and take a shuttle bus arranged by his residential compound to Fuxingmen in downtown Beijing, about 15 minutes' walk from his office.

    "It was a pleasant experience as I had chance to relax and take more exercise by not driving," said Xu.

    A spokesman with Beijing Public Transport Holdings Ltd. said the usually clogged city roads were much clearer on Friday resulting in the efficiency of public buses rising by 7 to 15 percent.

    Liu Xiaoming, deputy director of the Municipal Transportation Commission, said during the test period the number of buses would be increased and running times would be extended by an hour.

    Around 1,600 taxis will be allocated to train stations and airports each day and more than 300 taxis will stay at more than ten venues of the "Good Luck Beijing" Olympic test event, according to the local transport commission.

    It is estimated that 8.4 million people will take public transport, including buses, the subway and taxis, over the four days compared with 6.4 million on average.  

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