Govt takes air pollution fight to the streets

The local government aims to get 160,000 vehicles off the road by the end of the year to make a dent in one of the city's major sources of air pollution, transportation officials said Thursday at a press conference.

The targeted vehicles, which the officials classified as "old" and "high-emission" vehicles, are responsible for much of the PM2.5 emissions generated by vehicles in the city, according to a press release from the Shanghai Municipal Transport and Port Authority. Vehicle emissions account for about 25 percent of the city's PM2.5 levels

PM2.5, which stands for particulate matter less than 2.5 micron in diameter, is considered especially dangerous because the small size of the particulates allows them to lodge deeply in the lungs, where they can aggravate respiratory illnesses.

The transportation authority defines high-emission vehicles as those that fail to meet the National Emission Standard I. It defines old vehicles as those that fail to meet the National Emission Standard III or those registered more than 10 years ago.

Currently, there are 120,000 high-emission vehicles and 595,000 old vehicles operating in the city.

The 160,000 vehicles targeted for the junkyard include 4,000 buses, said a spokesman with the Shanghai Municipal Transport and Port Authority. In the future, about 40 percent of new buses in the city will meet the National Emission Standard V. The rest will run on electricity.

To encourage residents to get rid of noncompliant vehicles, the government has offered compensation ranging from 1,500 yuan ($240) to 160,000 yuan depending on the vehicle's age, its model and the emission standard it meets, according to the website of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government.

Starting July 1, the local government will ban high-emission vehicles from operating within the S20 Outer Ring Expressway. The vehicles will be prohibited from driving within the G1501 Expressway starting on April 1, 2015. Drivers who violate these rules can face fines of 200 yuan, Wang Meigen, deputy chief of the Shanghai Traffic Police Headquarters, said.

Transportation authorities will begin conducting regular vehicle emission inspections on July 1. Vehicles that fail three times will be scrapped.

Shanghai plans to get rid of another 300,000 high-emission and old vehicles from 2015 to 2017.