By Adrian Imonti
August 13, 2007 -
According to the Washington Post, Beijing officials want to clear their city's infamous smog by using number plate-based driving restrictions. Currently, the city's atmos is so bad that International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has threatened to postpone long-distance races if the athletes can't get sufficient 02. Although Chinese officials reckon they can pull a third of the city's three million vehicles off the road, they may face The Law of Unintended Consequences. Since 1989, Mexico City has banned cars one day per week based upon their license plate digits. In her book "Air Quality in the Mexico Megacity," author Luisa Molina quotes researchers who say some 22 percent of Mexican drivers responded to “Hoy No Circula” (HNC) regs by buying a second car– increasing overall vehicular journeys and, thus, air pollution. Of course, officials in charge of HNC– which now focuses on a car's age– say ending the plan would put 600k more vehicles on the road each day. The Chinese test begins on Friday.
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POWERED
August 13th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
The Mexico city act to ban cars on certain days had another unintended concequence. The new cars that people bought were much better with emmisions and fuel efficiency. Overall, the cities auto fleet improved as a result of this law.
August 13th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Is that a real picture? Did a volcano just erupt nearby? That looks disgusting!
August 14th, 2007 at 8:09 am
rpn453:
It’s real.
August 14th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Ahh, just let ‘em run. Should add a whole new level of complexity to the event.
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:46 pm
This is an apples to oranges comparison.
Beijing’s intent is patently temporary, while Ciudad Mex’s intent was to a “fully amortizing” solution. On 09/09/08, Beijing will be roll’n dirty…C-MEX at least was trying to comply with CARB, to which I, a Californian, say bienvenidos.