Beijing began a four-day experiment early on Friday to test whether pulling 1.3 million cars off the capital's roads each day would be effective in reducing air pollution during the Olympics.

Drivers with even-numbered license plates, excluding taxis, buses and emergency vehicles, were told to stay off the roads on Friday or face fines.

Odd-numbered cars will be banned on Saturday and Monday, while vehicles with even-numbered registrations must also stay at home on Sunday.

"The experience we gain from this test will shed light on the adoption of measures to guarantee environmental quality at the Olympic Games next year," said Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau.

The test period will also indicate if public transport can cope with the higher number of passengers and its effect on easing congestion, said an official with the Municipal Transport Commission.

Experts say pulling 1.3 million motor vehicles off the roads in Beijing each day can reduce exhaust emissions by 40 percent.

"Workers on the research team into Beijing's air quality will give priority to monitoring exhaust emissions during the four-day period and changes in the indicators will be studied closely," said Zhu Tong, a member of the research team.

Traffic flow appeared to be lighter on the first day of the test. There were fewer motor vehicles on the roads during the morning rush hour and a group of office workers who took shuttle buses to work said they arrived at their offices much earlier than usual.

Mr Xu, who lives in the outlying Daxing District and owns an off-road Honda with an even-numbered registration, usually drives to his office in Xicheng District, downtown Beijing.

However, he had to leave his car home on Friday morning and take a shuttle bus arranged by his residential compound to Fuxingmen in downtown Beijing, about 15 minutes' walk from his office.

"It was a pleasant experience as I had chance to relax and take more exercise by not driving," said Xu.

A spokesman with Beijing Public Transport Holdings Ltd. said the usually clogged city roads were much clearer on Friday resulting in the efficiency of public buses rising by 7 to 15 percent.

Liu Xiaoming, deputy director of the Municipal Transportation Commission, said during the test period, that the number of buses would be increased and running times would be extended by an hour.

Around 1,600 taxis will be allocated to train stations and airports each day and more than 300 taxis will stay at more than ten venues of the "Good Luck Beijing" Olympic test event, according to the local transport commission.

It is estimated that 8.4 million people will take public transport, including buses, the subway and taxis, over the four days compared with 6.4 million on average.
 

Editor: Yan