Madrid lifts partial car ban as pollution eases

Dec 29 photo shows pollution covering the sky above Madrid. Madrid’s city hall announced yesterday it had ordered half of most private cars off the roads to fight a

particularly bad bout of pollution, a first in Spain. (AP) Madrid on Thursday lifted an unprecedented ban on half of most private cars as pollution in the Spanish capital eased up.

A day earlier and for the first time in Spain, authorities decided to implement a measure already used in other cities abroad by ordering vehicles with evennumber registration plates to drive on even-number days, and cars with oddnumber plates on odd-number days.

The measure took effect on Thursday, but it was short-lived.

In a tweet, Madrid city hall said it had lifted the partial ban from Friday “given the improvement in NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) and (weather) forecasts.”

The partial ban on cars is activated when levels of harmful NO2 in the atmosphere go above 200 microgrammes per cubic metre in at least two measuring stations for a specific period of time, and if the air is unlikely to clear imminently. (AFP)