Plans have now been announced to control air pollution from vehicles during the Beijing Olympics.

Starting July 20 for a period of two months there will be alternate days for odd and even vehicles. Heavy polluting vehicles will be banned from July 1st.

Taxis, buses and emergency vehicles are exempted. Also, five days after the ban special lanes will be set up strictly for Olympic related vehicles to transport people between hotels, venues and Olympic facilities.

So will these plans do anything to alleviate pollution or congestion? That is difficult to say, and a test has been done previously which did little to improve the air quality.

Of course having the ban for two months could produce positive results. Beijing has a massive number of taxis and buses always seem to be at full capacity. People who usually drive, might just opt to take a taxi instead of driving. Of course, this will be good for taxis, but will do little to help the environment.

A couple of new subway lines, particularly line 10 is due to open very soon. Line 10 will be well used by people living on the eastern side of Beijing and will help to alleviate some traffic problems along that line.

Will people actually follow the odd and even days? That is also a difficult question to answer. Some people who are concerned about the Olympics might take heed. Police resources are already going to be stretched, so I really wonder if police will be to actually enforce the ban. Stopping at red traffic signals from what I have seen in Beijing looks to be optional, so I really wonder if people will follow the new rules.