Guangzhou authorities to remove 40 percent of vehicles on roads during Asiad

Guangzhou (China), Oct. 25 (ANI): The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou will remove about 40 percent of its vehicles from the roads to improve air quality and ease traffic congestion during the s Asian Games and Asian Para Games to be held in November and December respectively this year.

Lin Daoping, deputy secretary general of Guangzhou municipal government, told a press briefing Friday that the even-odd license plate method, an experiment tried during the Beijing Olympic Games, will be introduced between 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. from November 1 to 29 and from December 5 to 21.

Xinhua quoted him, as saying that the restriction will apply to all roads in Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong, during the Asian Games and some roads during the Asian Para Games.

He added that the restriction would not apply to public transport and support vehicles for the Games.

Police estimate that the license plate restriction would force about 40 percent of all vehicles off the roads.

Guangzhou has about 2.1 million vehicles. It has been decided to add 1,000 more buses and offer free public transport to limit the impact on the daily life of residents. (ANI)