Make the hard choice

Each new car sold today will add to the delight and worry of many municipal governments in China. It boosts consumption to help cushion the local economy from the global financial crisis. Meanwhile, it puts an ounce of extra pressure on local traffic and environmental protection agencies.

For the Beijing municipal government, the pressing problem is not if it needs to find a subtle balance between the surge of private car ownership and traffic control. The burning issue is how it will continue to maintain blue skies and smooth traffic, a part of the great legacy of the Olympic Games it hosted last year, as its half-year post-Olympic car ban is to expire in a month.

To improve the city's air quality and traffic, Beijing has replaced the two-month alternating odd-even license plate system for the Beijing Olympic Games with a six-month trial of taking one fifth of cars off the roads from Monday to Friday according to their number plates.