Paris limits traffic for fourth day

Vehicles are to be banned from circulating in Paris and in 22 neighbouring municipalities on Friday for the fourth successive day due to poor air quality, the city authorities said on Thursday.

On December 9, cars with uneven license plates, in a addition to car pools, emergency vehicles like ambulances, police cars, or vehicles used for delivering food won't be affected by the restriction measure, Xinhua cited a statement as saying.

The city authorities are offering free public transport and public services for bicycles and electric cars -- Velib and Autolib.

Traffic has been restricted since December 6 in Paris and suburbs of Paris as air pollution reached high levels due to increased pollutant of PM10 -- particulate matter measuring less than 10 micron.

Traffic will be also restricted in the central France cities of Lyon and Villeurbanne from December 9 because of "a lasting episode of air pollution," the region prefecture said.

--IANS

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