Beijing’s Car Restrictions to Continue for Another Year

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Apr. 7 – Beijing’s revised restrictions on cars will continue for another year beginning April 13 and will only be enforced on weekdays not including holidays and weekends.

Spokesman for the municipal committee of communications, Wang Zhaorong, said in a press conference that some of the rules were changed to make it easier for residents to follow.

Cars with number plates ending in 0 or 5 are banned on Mondays, while those ending in 1 or 6 will be banned on Tuesdays. For Wednesdays its carplates ending in 2 or 7, 3 or 8 on Thursday and 4 or 9 on Friday.

The banned driving dates will be changed every 13 weeks until expiration on April 10, 2010.

The new rules will also ban private cars within, but not on, the Fifth Ring Road from 7 am to 8 pm, reports China Daily.

When the new rules are enforced an estimated 930,000 of the city’s 3.6 million vehicles will be off the road on weekdays and will increase driving speed by 10 percent. This should lessen pollution and improve air quality when the measures decrease daily vehicle emissions by 750 tons, or 20 percent.

“Beijing’s air quality is getting better,” said Li Kunsheng, head of the vehicle management section of the Beijing municipal environmental protection bureau, adding that the daily vehicle emissions fell by 375 tons, or 10 percent.

Wang told China Daily that government and corporate vehicles will continue to be banned around the clock based on plate numbers, but the rules will not apply to emergency vehicles, mass transit vehicles or public service vehicles.