Updated on Jan 01, 2009 – Reuters
Beijing, beset by choking traffic and heavy air pollution, will take more than 350,000 high-polluting vehicles off inner-city streets from today, local media reported. The capital has banned cars from the roads on one out of five weekdays based on the number of licence plates as part of a six-month trial in the wake of broader restrictions during the Olympic Games in August that cleared skies and eased congestion. Drivers of high-emissions vehicles, known as “yellow-label” cars, would be fined 100 yuan (HK$114) if found to be driving within the city’s Fifth Ring Road, a highway on Beijing’s outskirts, after a three-month grace period, The Beijing News reported. The measure stands to take about 10 per cent of the city’s cars off the road. Beijing currently has about 3.5 million registered cars.