This morning brings some good news: Beijing’s traffic restrictions will continue, albeit with modifications, for another year. I don’t see any need to translate the whole article, a summary should suffice. The restrictions will still be based on the final digit of vehicle licence plates, same as now, with vehicles being banned one day each week, and, just as now, will not apply on weekends and public holidays. The modifications are:
- The restricted period will be shortened two hours, from the current 6am to 9pm to 7am to 8pm.
- The Fifth Ring Road is not included in the restricted zone- which I take to mean (but I’m just assuming, so don’t quote me on this) that the Fifth Ring and anything outside it are a free for all, while everywhere within the Fifth Ring is restricted.
- 尾号停驶轮换周期也由上次一个月轮换一次改为每13周轮换一次。And this will be a pain in the arse to translate. Instead of rotating the restricted days each month, they’ll be rotate every 13 weeks (3 months, more or less). So under the current restrictions, 1s were banned on Mondays for the first month, then for the second month 1s were banned on another day (can’t remember how they rotated it). Does that make sense? No. Tough.
Those, so far as I can see, are the only changes. The current restrictions end April 10, the new restrictions apply from April 11, 2009 to April 10, 2010.
Also, it seems that the restrictions on official vehicles (公务用车) will continue unmodified. That is, official vehicles belonging to all central and municipal government and party organs, agencies, public organisations and institutions and SOEs will be banned 1 day each week for 24 hours from all roads within Beijing’s jurisdiction.
