Driving restriction in New Delhi helps temporarily reduce pollution
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029583
Nature : New Delhi, India, has some of the worst traffic and pollution in the world. To try to address both problems, the city government held a 15-day trial in January to restrict the number of cars on the road. It asked that owners of private vehicles drive only on alternate days by following an odd–even rule, depending on the last digit of their license plate number. Scientists monitoring the experiment found it temporarily reduced not only the number of vehicles but also the daily amount of fine particulate matter in the air, which dropped by 10–13%. Those particles can cause major health problems, such as lung cancer, asthma, and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Because of the initial success and cooperation of drivers, the government is considering repeating the experiment in April.