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"Smart Devices" to Monitor Cars During Beijing Olympics

by Peter Mychalcewycz on July 15, 2008 at 07:54 AM



Chinese officials are taking steps to improve air quality and traffic gridlock in Beijing by cutting automobile travel via heavy traffic restrictions during the Olympic games. China's capital city is quickly becoming one the world's most-congested, with over 1,000 new cars being added to the city's streets each day. So how do they plan to do it?

It looks like they've gone with a high-tech route: Authorities have installed more than 10,000 "smart devices" on major roads and Olympic routes around the city. These devices include cameras and various scanners that can be used to identify individual automobiles. Starting July 20, cars will be banned on alternate days depending on the last number of their license plates. Regarding the system, a spokesman from the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau said, "They form a monitoring interface so that as soon as illegal cars hit the street, they will be discovered."

Offenders will be fined 100 yuan (approximately $15). Ouch. The Chinese government must really want to make sure that other countries think that it cares about air pollution. [Source: Reuters]

Tags: china, expire-images2009-7-14, olympics, pollution, sports

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