BEIJING — With the Games due to start in less than three weeks, Beijing on Sunday cranked up antipollution measures by yanking cars off the roads, expanding mass transit and staggering work hours in a bid to meet its pledge of a "green" Olympics.
Under rules to curb smog and traffic congestion that will last from July 20 to Sept. 20, owners of 3.3 million private cars can drive only on alternate days in China's capital, based on whether the last digit of their license plates is even or odd. Those in violation face a $14 fine, a significant amount for most Chinese.
Buses, taxis and emergency and diplomatic vehicles are exempt.
Beijing has also staggered work hours, added 2,000 buses, reorganized bus routes and extended the hours of operation for mass transit and shopping malls.
Freight trucks that don't meet minimal emission standards were banned July 1, creating a scramble among some people trying to move to a new house or arrange major deliveries. Summer camps have closed early given the difficulty of arranging children's bus services. Shops report difficulties getting their stock replenished.
Over the weekend, the city also opened a $2.3-billion subway line linking the northern Zhongguancun area, the capital's high-tech neighborhood, with its central business district.
Beijing, which adds 1,000 cars a week and is often wrapped in acrid smog, also announced a partial test of a second subway line that would feed into the main Olympic village area. Security has sharply increased in recent weeks, however, and that line will not be open to passengers without Olympic tickets or accreditation.
A light-rail line between the airport and the new Beijing transport hub of Dongzhimen is also opening.
According to the Washington-based Worldwatch Institute, 16 of the world's 20 most-polluted cities are in China, making the environment a priority in the government's bid to pull off the perfect Games.
Beijing has gone on a spending spree, relocating factories, seeding clouds, retiring old vehicles, planting millions of trees and halting building construction amid concerns that athletes and visitors could suffer breathing problems.
The prospect of competitors wearing masks during events has spurred authorities to set a goal of 256 "blue-sky" days this year, up from 100 in 1998.
World record holder and asthma sufferer Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia has opted to pull out of the marathon and concentrate instead on the 10,000-meter event. Other teams are training for as long as possible outside China.
