Associated Press | 11 October 2008
Beijing will ban half of its 3.4 million cars from the roads during periods of very heavy pollution, state media reported yesterday. The city would temporarily reinstate measures introduced during the Olympic Games and ban cars on alternate days – depending on whether their number plates were odd or even – if pollution rose to extreme levels, the reports said. Work would also be suspended at construction sites and high-polluting factories. The restrictions will be imposed only if the air pollution index reaches 300, a threshold far above the city’s normal air quality level.