Officials hail improved air quality during car ban

Beijing's overall air quality improved during the four-day test period ahead of next August's Olympic Games in which more than a million cars each day were barred from the roads, according to the Beijing Environment Protection Monitoring Center. The test resulted in the removal of cars from roads in downtown Beijing and the air quality was classified as "fairly good" for the duration of the four days. "The index of inhalable particular matter (IPM), a major air pollutant, was 91, 93, 95, 95 over the past four days while it was 116 on Thursday," said Zhao Yue, a senior engineer with the center.