Tianjin smog rules baffle

Drivers in Tianjin have been confused by mixed messages from local government agencies, after environmental authorities first announced traffic restrictions on Sunday evening due to a pollution alert, only for traffic authorities to rescind it hours later.

The Tianjin Environmental Protection Bureau (TEPB) posted a yellow smog alert around 7 pm on its Sina Weibo account, which said pollution levels would be from 210-330 from Sunday to Wednesday. A yellow alert, meaning "heavy pollution," is the lowest alert level on Tianjin's three-level scale.

As a response, the TEPB announced that it would impose a traffic restriction scheme based on license plates on Monday.

The city had already announced a permanent traffic restriction scheme, but this was not due to be implemented until March 2014. Both schemes are expected to see a reduction of 20 percent of cars daily.

The post soon stirred heated discussion on the Internet.

People expressed concerns about the short notice for the scheme, and wondered if drivers could see the notice if they were not surfing the Internet.

"Will people be punished tomorrow for not knowing the notice?" A Net user posted after reading the notice, while others complained that the city government has again issued an abrupt notice, after it suddenly announced in mid-December that it would start running a lottery for new car ownership.

This resulted in a rush to buy cars on December 15, the day before the policy commenced.

However, an emergency notice was posted by Radio Tianjin Communication Station at 11 pm, saying the city would not implement the scheme.

"According to the latest news from the traffic management bureau, the traffic restriction scheme won't be carried out for the moment," it said.

"We didn't receive any notice for the traffic restriction scheme on Monday," a staffer at the traffic bureau told the Global Times on Monday.

"As far as we know, the traffic restriction scheme will start on March 1, 2014, as it was previously announced earlier this month," he said.

The TEPB and the traffic administration department have been coordinating on the matter on Monday, a staffer with the publicity department of the bureau told the Global Times.

According to Tianjin web portal enorth.com.cn on Monday, the city would still put traffic restrictions in place on heavily polluted days, but only reminders would be issued this time as it was the first time the scheme was implemented.

"It's necessary to inform the public in advance," said Gong Weibin, professor with the Chinese Academy of Governance, adding that departments need to coordinate effectively with clear responsibilities.

More importantly, before imposing traffic restrictions abruptly, the government needs to find out the causes of air pollution, he noted.