Beijing has been trying a four-day dry run of traffic restrictions the city will put in place for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Olympics officials have threatened to suspend some events if air pollution levels are too high, so the city will institute a driving ban intended to take more than a million cars off the street.
Estimates of how many drivers complied with the trial varied, but the city’s traffic flowed much more smoothly on Friday as commuters took public transit, biked, carpooled or stayed home from work.
Beijing has about 3 million cars and is adding 1,000 a day, according to the Associated Press.
“It’s for the Olympics, so we’ve got to do it,” said Li Hui, a consultant who added he would take a taxi to work. “This is a big thing for our country. Everyone should support it and put the greater good ahead of their own personal interests.”
The greater good for visiting athletes, anyway. Breathing brown air is still okay for most Chinese the rest of the year, and it’s not likely to get better soon, although Beijing is trying:
Beijing spent 120 billion yuan ($15.80 billion) from 1998 to 2006 on environmental improvement -- shutting down or moving the worst industrial polluters, taking old vehicles off the roads and extending the city's rail and subway network.
Our visit to China in 2005 showed examples of cleanup farther out in the country, where a lead plant is moving away from a hospital.
