BEIJING -- The Olympics are almost three weeks away, but Li Yiqun is already wishing they were over.
Normally he drives to work in an easy 30 minutes. But starting today, on alternate days his commute will be transformed into a two-hour ordeal in an overcrowded bus.
Mr. Li is just one of the 3.3 million motorists in Beijing who will be forced to give up their cars every second day for the next two months. The drastic new rules are a last-ditch attempt to reduce the heavy smog that threatened to wreak havoc for athletes at the Olympics next month.
"For the sake of the Olympics, I can accept this policy, but it certainly brings us a lot of inconvenience," Mr. Li grumbled yesterday as the new rules took effect.
More World Stories
The 26-year-old information technology manager says he will have to leave home at least an hour earlier on the days when his car is grounded, and he'll get home later at night. "The buses are already overloaded at rush hour. It's going to create one problem after another."
"Sometimes I wish the Olympics would end sooner. Two months is the limit of our endurance for this inconvenience."
The strict new rules - imposed for the full Olympic period until the end of the Paralympics in late September - will shut down half of the city's private cars each day, alternating between odd and even licence plate numbers.
Yesterday, on the first day under the new system, Beijing's traffic was lighter and smoother than usual, and officials reported that 95 per cent of city buses were operating without any delays - normally a rare event on the city's clogged roads.
But the real test will be today, with the first rush-hour commute.
Pollution is one of the biggest threats to the Olympics. Many athletes are staying away from Beijing until the last possible moment, to reduce their exposure to the smog.
The International Olympic Committee says it could postpone some outdoor events if the air is too dirty.
Beijing's skies were remarkably blue yesterday, partly due to a barrage of anti-pollution measures that have taken effect in recent days. In addition to the car ban, Beijing has shut down hundreds of factories, told others to slash emissions and ordered a suspension of all major construction projects for the next two months, in order to reduce dust. It has also banned 300,000 heavy-polluting trucks from city streets since July 1.
To ease the burden on commuters, Beijing opened three new subway lines this weekend, plus a new high-speed train from the city to the airport. It also plans to add 3,000 buses to the city transit system. Because of the restrictions on cars, the subway and bus system is expected to carry 21 million passengers a day, compared to the usual 16 million. Beijing is also allocating 50,000 bicycles for rental to help commuters reach the subway.
Beijing says it has spent more than $20-billion on anti-smog measures since 1998. But it acknowledges that automobiles are responsible for more than half of the pollution caused by inhalable particulate matter - the most difficult form of smog to reduce.
The number of private cars on Beijing's roads has been rising by about 1,000 a day for the past several years.
According to China's state media, 95 per cent of Beijing residents support the new traffic rules. They are reporting cheerful stories of motorists happily learning to ride bicycles for the first time in their lives. But in interviews yesterday, the reaction was mixed.
Some commuters liked the new rules, but many complained about the system's headaches.
Chen Jia, a 27-year-old screenwriter, says his family owns three cars - all with odd-numbered licence plates. His father, who owns a garment factory in a Beijing suburb, is preparing for a weekday bus ride that will take up to three hours, compared with his usual one-hour drive.
"My father is 56 and has high blood pressure, and the weather is so hot," Mr. Chen said.
"We are worried about him. For the long trip tomorrow, he has to prepare some medicine and a bottle of water. I almost feel like boycotting the Olympics because it's causing so much trouble in our life. We didn't buy our cars just to display them in the parking lot."
He admitted, however, that the new system has some advantages. Yesterday, he socialized with seven of his friends - all of whom had taken the subway because of the new rules.
"We can finally sit together and drink freely without worrying how to drive the car home afterward," he said.
Hao Jilin, a 37-year-old businessman, says he will give up his car and switch to the subway for the next two months. "It gives me a chance to take a mental rest," he said. "Driving a car in Beijing is really exhausting. Just to look for a parking spot is tiring. And sometimes I feel sick from the polluted air when I open the car window. The public transit system is more convenient for me."
24