Beijing to limit number of new cars

The Beijing municipal government on Friday said it will slash the new car registration quota by a third starting next year in a bid to reduce traffic gridlocks and ease air pollution.

Currently, Beijing allocates 150,000 licence plates for new cars every year and the number will be reduced to 100,000 in 2018, according to a new regulation.

Beijing residents apply for new car licence plates through a lottery-style bidding system aimed to cut pollution and ease traffic jams in the Chinese capital. The system was introduced in 2011, Xinhua news agency reported.

Of the annual quota of 100,000, 60 per cent are for new energy cars and the rest are for fossil-fuel vehicles.

Beijing aims to control the total number of vehicles to around 6.3 million by the end of 2020.

Meanwhile, the city will increase spending on its public transit system. By 2020, Beijing's metro lines will total 900 kilometres, said deputy director of Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport Rong Jun.

--IANS

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