Chinese cities set car bans

The city of Beijing has implemented a new law requiring 70 percent of government cars and all corporate and privately owned cars to stay off the roads at least one weekday out of five.

Traffic was lightened by an estimated 800,000 cars when the law took effect Oct. 13.

The cars take turns staying off the roads based on a schedule determined by the final numbers of their license plates. Cars with license plates ending in 1 or 6 cannot be driven on Mondays; those ending in 2 or 7 cannot be driven on Tuesdays; 3 or 8 on Wednesdays; 4 or 9 on Thursdays; and 5 or 0 on Fridays.

Public service vehicles such as police cars, fire engines and ambulances are exempt from the law.

The move followed a two-month trial period during which vehicles were banned from Beijing roads on alternate days during the Olympics and Paralympics held in August and September. Cars with license plates that ended in odd numbers stayed off roads one day, and cars with plates ending in even numbers stayed off roads the next.

City officials found that the plan removed 2 million cars from the roads and cut 120,000 metric tons (132,277 U.S. tons) of pollution. A rash of thefts involving diplomatic license plates was also reported.

Similar plans to reduce city traffic have been implemented in other countries including Greece, India and the Philippines. Some drivers found ways around the bans by either removing their license plates, getting a second set of plates, or buying more cars with license plates that ended in different numbers to ensure they could stay on the road. Other drivers vowed to keep driving daily and risk getting caught and fined.

Beijing recently raised fuel prices to help oil companies cover the costs of supplying cleaner diesel and gasoline products that meet the Euro IV emission standard (see Beijing hikes fuel prices to pay for cleaner blend).

A similar plan involving only cars used by Shanghai government officials is expected to take effect Nov. 1 in an effort to reduce the public sector’s energy consumption.

The Shanghai city government has not said how many vehicles might be affected by the new regulation, but its municipal government alone has roughly 1,000 cars in its fleet.