DRIVING FAMILY JUST A DREAM FOR THOSE AWAITING LICENSE PLATES

Beijing's municipal lottery policy leads some hopefuls to apply instead for new energy vehicles, but others wait and hope

Yu Huapeng got a driver's license six years ago, so he could take his wife and baby daughter on weekend road trips. He's rarely used it, though, because after all this time he's still waiting to strike it lucky in Beijing's car plate lottery.

The capital introduced an annual quota on new car registrations in 2011 to ease traffic congestion and combat smog. For the past two years, the cap has been set at 90,000 licenses for conventional vehicles, available only by entering a monthly drawing, and 60,000 for new energy vehicles, which are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.