Beijing shortens permits for out-of-town vehicles

Beijing next year will stop issuing long-term permits to motor vehicles from outside the city, and offer drivers only one-week passes instead.

Although Beijing Traffic Management Bureau made no official announcement, Nandu Daily broke the story that some traffic police teams have posted notices in offices where owners of non-local vehicles apply for the six-month permits.

Without permits, non-local vehicles will not be allowed within the Fifth Ring Road of Beijing. If caught, drivers will be fined 100 yuan ($16.49) and have three points deducted from their driver's license.

"It's not a temporary cancellation," a Chaoyang district traffic police officer told the Guangzhou-based newspaper. "There won't be any more long-term permits in the future."

Applying for a weekly permit at a highway check station is now the only choice for non-local vehicle drivers, the paper reported.

Beijing has 24 highway stations open for short-term driving permit applicants, mostly on the Hebei Province border.

Car owners did not generally welcome the move. The permit change would make significant extra demands on their time and money.

The extra travel to obtain short-term permits would also produce more pollutants, claimed a letter published on Sina Weibo.

"What kind of serious traffic jams will be caused if owners of cars with non-local plates have to renew their temporary permits every week at these outlets?" one Weibo user wrote.

In a reported attempt to reduce air pollution, Beijing traffic authorities in August stipulated that non-local vehicles must have entry permits to drive within the Sixth Ring Road. The notice did not mention any future cancellation of long-term permits.