5:30pm on August 10, 2007
Beijing is expected to have some clearer-sky days and emptier streets within days. This is by far the best news I’ve heard recently, even better than someone tells me that the pork meat price is going to go down.
Officials announced yesterday that Beijing is going to remove 1.3 million cars from the city streets from August 17 to 20 and to hold a several Olympics test events that could be adopted in next year’s real games. During the four days, cars with even or odd-numbered plates will be allowed on the roads only on alternate days. That means almost half of Beijing’s 3 million automobiles will disappear. That was the total number of automobiles that ran on the roads here five years ago.
Beijing’s automobile exhaust level was much lower than it is now which, according to People Daily online in May, has become “the biggest car exhaust emission area in the world.”
So when the news came out, I started immediately picturing the blue sky I have been longing for for a while, canceling travel plans in order to make sure to enjoy the rarity. The government officials say that it will be a test to see to what extent that car exhaust contributes to the poor air quality in Beijing. While it will be challenging to see how the city’s public transportation system handles some hundreds of thousands more passengers who otherwise drive. If that works out, I strongly call on that Beijing should consider doing that on a more regular basis.
