China's Dramatic Anti-Air Pollution Plan

City officials yanked hundreds of thousands of private cars off Beijing's streets Friday to test whether a partial ban could clear health-threatening smog and ease gridlock during next year's Olympic Games.

An estimated 400,000 private cars were affected by the ban on the first day of the four-day trial, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The city is using an odd-even license plate number system, so only vehicles with license plates ending in odd numbers were allowed on the roads Friday, the 17th of the month.

Violators were to be fined $13 and ordered to return home, a Beijing Traffic Police spokesman, who would only give his surname, Yan, said Thursday.

The test is a challenge for Beijing Olympic organizers and city authorities to see if they can balance the need to dampen severe pollution without angering a growing middle class. Upwardly mobile Beijing residents have quickly grown used to the comforts of driving, as private car ownership exploded in the past five years.

On Friday, drivers mostly complied with the ban.

"It's for the Olympics so we've got to do it," said Li Hui, a consultant and car owner who added he would take a taxi to work Friday. "This is a big thing for our country. Everyone should support it and put the greater good ahead of their own personal interests."

Many commuters opted to car pool, take taxis, buses, the subway or take the day off work.

Emergency vehicles, taxis, buses and other public-service vehicles are exempt as are those given special passes by Beijing Olympic organizers to attend sports test-events around the city.

Details of the plan were announced last week by city authorities, who said the four-day plan would take 1.3 million cars off the road. It was not clear how the total figure was calculated and Olympic organizers and Beijing police said they could not immediately clarify.