Beijing Bans Polluting Vehicles in Inner City
Prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics there was some concern by athletes about the air quality in China’s capital, so officials there passed a series of temporary measures to improve the air, including restrictions on the types of vehicles allowed into the city. Those measures now appear to be a permanent legacy of the Olympic games, as Beijing has announced that starting in June only low-emissions “green label” vehicles will be allowed inside the 5th Ring Road of Beijing’s inner city.
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All vehicles, depending on their emissions level, will recieve either a green label (low-emissions) or a yellow label (high emissions). Those without the yellow label are banned from entering the inner city, in an effort to curb the rampent air quality issues that plague China’s ancient capital. Combined with efforts to convert homes from coal to gas and to curb rampant pollution have resulted in an estimated 375 tons less emissions daily, about a 10% reduction.
For a city of 17 million people, this will almost certainly help reduce congestion as well as pollution, and surprisingly I find myself nodding my head in agreement with this plan. Why not? I can’t make much of a case for owning a car in the city at all, nevermind a big gas-guzzler that would be impossible to paralell park (I bet parking is a at a premium in Beijing too). I don’t see this kind of initiative working in a city like say, New York, but maybe a smaller port city like Portland, OR.
Source: Gasgoo.com
I do business trips to China about once a year and in cities like Hangzhou & Shanghai, where they have banned or severely limited gas motorcycles. So everyone drives around electric scooters & motorcycles. It is amazing how quiet they are. In fact, you have to be careful crossing the streets, there are so many of them. It is really refreshing and makes me wish for that in the states. It totally makes sense. So this article is great news. Bicycle rickshaws, bicycles, electric scooters and cars are the way to go. The funny thing is that while many people think that electric cars are the worlds savior, I think that electric scooters will power most of the world. Easy to drive, easy to park and quiet and many, many more people can afford them, especially in places like China.
Interesting, I hadn’t heard this, and I live in Beijing. I suspect implementation and enforcement will both be spotty, at least at first. Beijing has definitely improved its air quality markedly since the build up to the Olympics, and the economic recession idled a number of factories on the city outskirts as well as in neighboring Hebei Province, further improving the air quality. As I write this, the sky is cloudy and not hazy, a rare sight - most days are still pretty polluted.
But as I said, how they measure this is important. Beijing has a standard for ‘blue sky’ days that is extremely flexible, to the point it’s basically been called BS by a number of observers. Is the air better? Yes. Is this a good idea? Yes. I’m glad they’re doing it. But the list of exceptions to the rule may actually be longer than the number of vehicles actually excluded. I suspect military, armed police (both of whom have special license plates and driving privileges), along with the cheap old trucks and ‘bread vans’ that deliver produce and other goods will have to be excluded entirely. Also, many road regulations in Beijing apply only to daylight hours. At night, trucks roam the ring roads at will.
When I saw this over on TTAC.com my first thought was that it sounds like nothing but a new revenue stream for the corrupt local councils. I bet anything can get the sticker for the right price.
Spot checks & such will help, but not a lot. Though every little bit helps.