中國將在奧運期間采取車輛限行措施
With fewer than 50 days to the Olympic Games, Chinese authorities on Friday announced plans to almost halve the number of cars on the capital's roads for a two-month period.
Starting July 20, cars will be allowed on the roads on alternating days, based on even- and odd-number license plates. The system will be in effect until Sept. 20, almost a month after the close of the Olympics and three days after the closing ceremony of the Paralympics.
Authorities expressed confidence these measures will produce clean air in time for the Games. 'We have the confidence and capability to guarantee the good air quality. We can promise the air quality can be improved to meet the previous target we set,' said Du Shaozhong, spokesman for Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau.
The measures are expected to take about 45% of Beijing's 3.29 million cars off the roads, including 300,000 government vehicles. The steps also are expected to increase public-transportation ridership by four million, authorities said.
Though the plan was widely expected, its duration could encourage Beijing's more-affluent drivers to attempt to evade the measures by switching license plates or using alternate cars.
Several multinational companies already have purchased or made arrangements to purchase alternate license plates for their fleets to enable ease of movement, people familiar with the matter said.
Beijing is struggling to clear the skies in time for the Olympics, despite rules that are already in effect. These include tougher car-emission standards and the closure of polluting factories across six Chinese provinces that are collectively larger in area than France, Germany and Italy combined.
But concerns about Beijing's still-poor air quality are causing some Olympians to consider showing up for only their events, skipping many of the festivities accompanying the Games. This past week, for example, members of Australia's track-and-field contingent said they would stay in their Hong Kong training camp and skip the opening ceremonies, partly because of 'concerns of air quality,' spokesman Mike Tancred said.
On Friday, Beijing's downtown noon skies were a dull gray and smelled faintly of smoke. Chinese readings rated air quality Level 3, or 'slightly polluted,' which is still on the higher end of the pollution scale. On May 28, Beijing notched an unprecedented Level 4, or 'poor,' reading.
Nonetheless, Chinese authorities said Thursday that Beijing had 12 more blue-sky days this year compared with last, as well as drops in major pollution indexes that monitor concentrations of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter.
A similar discrepancy in public perception and official readings occurred last August, when authorities did a test-run of traffic controls for a four-day period. Authorities said the measures caused significant improvements in air quality and cut emissions by 5,815 tons, but many residents said only traffic flow improved markedly during the period.
現(xiàn)在距離奧運會開幕還有不到50天，中國有關(guān)部門上周五公布了車輛限行措施，北京機動車將在奧運期間按單雙號行駛，限行期限為兩個月。
從7月20日起，北京機動車將按單雙號行駛。限行期限至9月20日結(jié)束，也就是奧運會閉幕約1個月后、殘奧會閉幕3天后。
有關(guān)部門表示，相信這些措施將使奧運期間空氣質(zhì)量有所改善。北京市環(huán)保局發(fā)言人杜少中說，我們有信心和能力保障空氣質(zhì)量，我們能夠保證將空氣質(zhì)量提高到此前設(shè)定的目標水平。
北京目前機動車保有量為329萬輛，其中包括30萬輛公車。該措施預(yù)計將使奧運期間北京上路機動車數(shù)量減少45%左右。有關(guān)部門表示，該措施預(yù)計將使公共交通的乘客數(shù)量增加400萬人次。
該措施在公眾的普遍預(yù)期之中，不過，北京有錢的車主們可能會通過換車牌或是使用替代車輛的辦法來逃避限行。
據(jù)知情人士透露，數(shù)家跨國公司已經(jīng)或計劃為公司車隊的車輛購置有單有雙的車牌，以方便車輛出行。
盡管北京已經(jīng)實施了一系列的措施改善奧運期間空氣質(zhì)量，但任務(wù)仍然很艱巨。這些措施包括執(zhí)行更為嚴格的汽車排放標準、在6個省份關(guān)停污染工廠，這些省份的總面積超過了法國、德國和意大利的總和。
不過對北京空氣質(zhì)量依然不佳的擔憂致使一些奧運選手考慮只在比賽的時候現(xiàn)身北京，而不參加眾多奧運會相關(guān)活動。舉例來講，澳大利亞田徑隊的發(fā)言人邁克?唐克雷德(Mike Tancred)上周表示，他們將呆在香港的訓(xùn)練營，不參加奧運開幕式，原因之一就是擔心空氣質(zhì)量。
上周五中午，北京市區(qū)天空灰蒙蒙的，還能夠聞到輕微煙塵的味道。當天公布的空氣質(zhì)量為3級，也就是輕微污染，仍屬于污染較高的級別。5月28日，北京公布的空氣質(zhì)量為4級，也就是中度污染。
盡管如此，中國有關(guān)部門上周四表示，北京今年截至目前的藍天數(shù)量較去年同期增加了12天，衡量二氧化硫、一氧化碳、二氧化氮和可吸入顆粒物的濃度的主要污染物指數(shù)也有所下降。
去年8月有關(guān)部門曾試行了4天的單雙號限行，公眾的感覺和官方數(shù)據(jù)之間也出現(xiàn)過類似的差異。當時有關(guān)部門表示，該措施顯著改善了空氣質(zhì)量，并且減排5,815噸，不過很多居民表示當時只是交通得到了顯著的改善。
