Authorities in Guangdong's provincial capital plan to retain driving restrictions based on the final digits of vehicles' license plate numbers after the Asian Games to unsnarl traffic, a city official has said.

Guangzhou traffic grinds to a halt during evening rush hour on Dec 22, the first day after the lifting of the city's even-odd license plate restrictions. [Xinhua]

"We're working on a package of measures to tackle gridlock, including the odd-even license plate number plan, which proved effective during the Asian Games," Guangzhou communication commission director Xian Weixiong said.

The measures, which will be posted online for public input before adoption, will ensure an average driving speed of 25 km an hour on urban roads within three years, Xian said. The temporary restrictions, based on whether vehicles' license plates' final digits are even or odd, had kept nearly 800,000 cars off the city's roads a day over the past two months.

But the traffic congestion has increased, especially during rush hours, after the Asian Games and Asian Para Games concluded earlier this month.

"The temporary measure was intended to improve traffic flows during the games, so we'll only continue it on designated roads at designated times," Xian explained.

Some political advisers have urged Guangzhou's government to learn from Beijing's experience and limit vehicle registrations.

"The odd-even plan will encourage some owners to buy a second car," local political adviser Han Zhipeng said.

"So it's necessary to introduce a long-term measure like Beijing's."

The national capital recently announced new regulations, including a sharp limitation of new vehicle registrations for 2011. From Dec 24 of this year, a license plate lottery system would allocate registration rights, Beijing's municipal government had announced.

There are about 2.1 million vehicles on Guangzhou's roads. Transportation authorities have said the number does not exceed the designed capacity.

There was a rise in the number of new car registrations in the city following the Nov 1 adoption of the odd-even license plate restriction. More than 2,000 vehicles were registered daily during the games, while an average of about 1,200 were registered daily throughout 2010.

Guangzhou does not plan to introduce a vehicle registration limit similar to Beijing's, Xian said.

"Instead, we will optimize the traffic network and enhance the development of public transportation through such means as building more metro lines in coming years."

(China Daily December 29, 2010)