Half of Beijing's 3.3 million vehicles will be pulled off the roads during the Olympics to help clean the city's noxious air for the games.

The auto ban is part of an anti-pollution plan that also will halt
construction and heavy industry during the Olympics, which begin in
seven weeks. Under the plan announced Friday, vehicles will be allowed on the roads on alternate days — according to even or odd car registration numbers — from July 20 until Sept. 20.

In addition, 300,000 heavy polluting vehicles — aging industrial
trucks, many of which operate only at night — will be banned from July
1. Under the plan, between 30 percent and 70 percent of 300,000
government-operated vehicles will be taken off the roads. Officials
also expect a strong increase in the use of public transportation, with several new subway lines set to open. Officials said that 95 percent of the city's 66,000 taxis would be operating during the games, along with 21,000 buses.

Officials have said that during the same two-month period, most
construction in the city will halt, heavy industries will close, and
even spray painting will stop to clean the air. Some reports suggested that production cutbacks could come even sooner.

Read the full article at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080620/ap_on_re_as/china_traffic_plan

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