A million cars idle in Beijing road test
5/7/2007 9:37
The Beijing government will take one million vehicles off the roads for
two weeks next month to rehearse traffic control for the Beijing
Olympics.
The project will last from August 7 to August 20, said sources
with the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games.
They said the
city government endorsed the plan at an internal meeting, but refused to give
details.
A spokesman for Beijing's Road Traffic Management Bureau said
the move would speed up traffic and cause little inconvenience.
"Students
will be staying home for the summer holiday and working people can take public
transport," he said.
The bureau said road transport has reached crisis
point in Beijing, with 90 percent of roads at full capacity and little room for
expansion.
Beijing had three million registered automobiles on May 26 and
1,000 more vehicles come on the roads each day. The total is expected to top 3.3
million by August next year, when the Games open.
The city government has
subsidized public transport heavily this year and slashed the average bus fare
from 1 yuan to 0.4 yuan hoping more private drivers would take buses.
But
it has refrained from imposing a significant tax on vehicles.
Last
November, Beijing imposed a six-day ban on at least 490,000 government vehicles
and advised private drivers to take buses during a summit meeting between
Chinese and African leaders.
Xinhua
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