Beijing has decided not to make measures that limited car use during the Olympics permanent, state media said yesterday, despite considerable public backing of curbs that brought the cleanest air in years.
From Saturday private car owners will no longer face any restrictions, following a two-month period when they could only drive every other day, the Beijing Youth Daily reported, citing the city government.
Instead, they will merely be “encouraged” to avoid using their cars one day every week, according to the paper.
However, government vehicles will in future be forced off the roads once a week, following a rotating system based on the last number on their license plates, the paper said.
The new regulations follow remarks from the government that it would not rule out continuing the temporary car use limits put in place at the last moment before the Olympics and Paralympics to clean the air for the athletes.
The restrictions prevented over 1 million of Beijing’s 3.3 million cars from hitting the roads.
The limits — along with a move to shut down construction work and close over 100 polluting factories — have been an unmitigated success, as Beijing had the cleanest air of any summer in the past decade, officials said earlier.
The better air and the smoother traffic meant significant support from the public for the measures.
A recent survey of 844 Beijing residents carried out by Capital View Research Co showed 55.6 percent were in favor of making the curbs permanent, the Beijing Youth Daily said.
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