Road space rationing in Beijing

This car has an even end number, therefore it could not go on public road space every other day.

On July 20, 2008, Beijing implemented a temporary road space rationing policy, odd-even rationing policy, by allowing cars that have an even last number of their license plates to be able to drive on roads in one day while the cars that have an odd last number of their license plates could go on the road the next day in order to improve air quality in the city during the 2008 Summer Olympics.[2][3] This policy does not affect taxis, public buses, yellow-plate vehicles (vehicles with more than 9 seats inclusive), police vehicles and military vehicles.

Military vehicles that have white license plates are not ruled by any of the policies.

On September 28, 2008, the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau issued a 'Notice on the Implementation of Traffic Management Measures', which stated that from October 11, 2008 to January 10, 2009, automobiles in Beijing city (inside the 5th Ring Road) shall cease going on public roads for one day per week by means of grouping by the end number of the license plates of automobiles: from Monday to Friday, automobiles with end numbers 1 or 6, 2 or 7, 3 or 8, 4 or 9, 5 or 0 respectively would cease going on public road space.[4] License plates ending with English letters are categorized as 0. The automobiles that are not allowed on public road space during a weekday are not allowed to be inside the 5th ring road (inclusive) from 07:00 to 20:00 Beijing time. If the policy is violated, car owners would be fined ¥200. For every three months, the automobiles that could not go on public road space for a certain weekday would rotate.[5]

Yellow-label cars are automobiles that have yellow-stickers that indicate the vehicles are not qualified for the emission levels ‘国I’ for gasoline cars and '国III' for diesel cars on their windshields. Since January 1, 2009, a yellow-label car restriction policy was imposed, which prohibited the entrance of yellow-cars into the 5th Ring Road of Beijing.[6]

Smog over Beijing's Forbidden City.

Temporary driving restrictions were imposed in Beijing from December 8 to 10, 2015, as part of the smog mitigation measures provided for in Beijing’s red alert for hazardous smog, the first such alert issued ever. The smog alert system was put in place in 2013, and a red alert should go into effect if there is a prediction that the air quality index will stay over 200 for more than 72 hours. On the evening of December 7 the index was 253 according to Beijing’s authorities. Under a red alert half of the city’s cars are ordered off the streets through a temporary alternate-day travel scheme based on the cars license plate numbers. Only cars with even-numbered license plates were allowed on the roads during the first day of the restriction.[7][8] Electric cars are not subject to the driving restriction, as a government incentive to promote the use of cleaner vehicles.[9]

According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the combined effect of all the restrictions imposed reduced pollutant emissions in Beijing by 30% during day one of the city's first red alert for smog. Environmentalist from Beijing University of Technology estimated that without the measures, the density of PM_2.5 would have risen by 10% during that time period.[10]

A second red alert for pollution was issued on December 18, 2015. Temporary driving restrictions were imposed for four days, beginning at 7 a.m. on December 19 and ending on the 23rd at midnight.[11]

On 16 December 2016, Beijing authorities declared a five-day pollution “red alert” due to a heavy pollution event. Among other measures, about half the cars were restricted through a temporary alternate-day travel scheme, and older and “dirty” high-emissions vehicles were forbidden to circulate. Public transport services in the city were increased, with about 3,600 buses on duty. The Ministry of Environmental Protection reported that 21 other cities across north and central China had also declared pollution red alerts, including Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, and Zhengzhou.[12][13] The red alert was lifted on 22 December 2016 as the winds cleared pollution away the night before.[14]