China Starts "Ride A Bicycle To Work" Day

Beijeng has instituted a "no car" work day to reduce air pollution from automobile emissions.

Environmental officials in Beijing have asked residents to stop driving their cars to work one day a month in an effort to clean up the capital's stifling air pollution and ease traffic jams.

More than 200,000 drivers in up to 100 Beijing auto clubs have agreed to comply with the voluntary request, the Beijing
Environmental Protection Bureau said in a report posted on its website.

The campaign to restrict car driving is modeled on a similar program initiated by 34 cities in France, the report said. The effort in Beijing is being made in coordination with a "blue sky day" campaign launched in 1998 in an effort to increase the number of days with good or fair air quality in the years running up to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Between the beginning of the year and mid-April, the city reported 56 "blue sky days," 16 fewer than the same period in 2005.