Even- and Odd-numbered License Plates
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Odd-even license plate system to come into effect in July
The Jakarta administration will start implementing an odd-even license plate policy in July as a temporary solution to ease traffic congestion in the capital. “The trial will be held on July 20 to Aug. 20, while the official implementation is going to be on Aug. 23. Then, this policy will only last until electronic road pricing [ERP] is introduced by the end of 2017,” Jakarta Transportation Agency head Andri Yansyah said in Jakarta on Friday. Andri said that all cars and motorbikes with odd number license plates would be prohibited from using certain thoroughfares on odd dates and vice versa. However, the policy would not be applicable for yellow-plated transportation vehicles, ambulances, fire trucks and VVIP vehicles. Andri also said the policy would be implemented in areas where the three-in-one system had been enforced, namely on Jl. Thamrin, Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Gatot Subroto. In addition, Jl. Rasuna Said would also be included as a “warm-up” before the ERP, he said. Data from the Jakarta Police’s traffic accident subdirectorate shows that there are almost 17 million vehicles across Greater Jakarta -- 50.05 percent of them have odd-number license plates and 49.95 percent have even-numbered plates. “I hope, with this policy, there will be no joki [passengers-for-hire], or cases of child abuse and sexual harassment,” said Comr. Miyanto, the public service section head of the subdirectorate.
Around Odd-Even License Plate Rules, a History of Impatience
The last time New York City had odd-even gasoline purchase rules, they were in effect for 79 days, and the time before that, 65 days. This time, the reasons were different. Fuel distribution was disrupted by Hurricane Sandy — among other things, the storm forced tankers bound for the New York area to wait it out and stay beyond the reach of its punishing winds. Also, many service stations had gasoline but no electricity after the storm, so their pumps could not function. In 1973, the Arab oil embargo choked supplies nationwide. In 1979, a new government took power during the Iranian revolution, and fresh supply worries set off panic buying and long lines at gas stations. There were fistfights at some stations as drivers tried to cut in line. At least one driver was arrested for pulling a gun on a gas station attendant who would not fill his car, with odd-numbered plates, on an even-numbered day. “It was hectic,” recalled Stanley Gaj, who in 1979 was the manager of a filling station at Queens Boulevard and Albion Avenue in Elmhurst, Queens. “It was chaotic. We opened up at I think 6 or 7 in the morning, and we only stayed open until we ran out. When we ran out, that was it until the next day.” (Mr. Gaj, who now lives in Middle Village, Queens, said that he left the station in the mid-1980s and became a bus driver.) The odd-even sales began in mid-June of 1979 after weeks of long lines. They ended on Sept. 6 after officials decided there was finally enough fuel on hand to be certain there would be no more panic buying. Gasoline became widely available again in midsummer after the price passed $1.50 a gallon. It had been less than $1 at the beginning of 1979, before Iran suspended oil exports. In May of that year, President Jimmy Carter gave governors the power to regulate gasoline sales in their states. That included the power to impose odd-even systems. Three weeks later, Gov. Hugh L. Carey announced an odd-even plan for the city and four suburban counties — Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and Rockland. New Jersey and Connecticut soon followed suit. Mr. Carey had been under pressure from Mayor Edward I. Koch, who called the gas lines and supply problems “intolerable.” That mirrored the situation five years earlier, when Mayor Abraham D. Beame called the outlook “desperate” and threatened to start allocating gasoline himself if the state did not. The governor at the time, Malcolm Wilson, initially resisted, saying he did not want to force “governmental regulation upon our citizens and upon our businesses until every alternative has been exhausted.” He relented in February 1974, saying the gasoline emergency was endangering public health and safety. Mr. Wilson ended the odd-even plan in May after federal energy officials increased the amount of gasoline available in New York. The odd-even rules currently in effect brought back memories for New Yorkers old enough to remember the earlier rounds. Robert Sinclair Jr., now a spokesman for AAA New York, remembered a conversation with a cousin in 1979. “He was supposed to take this girl out,” he said, “but she didn’t appreciate how hard it was to get gasoline. He was done with her.”
Delhi’s Odd-Even Driving Plan: The Rules
Delhi’s state government hopes to cut pollution in the capital by restricting the number of vehicles on the roads for two weeks from Friday — but there are plenty of people exempt from the new rules. From Jan.1 to 15, those driving cars with license plates ending with an even number will only be allowed on the roads on even-numbered dates. Those driving cars with license plates ending in an odd figure will be allowed on the roads on the other days. The rules apply from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and anyone caught breaking them will incur a 2,000 rupee ($30) fine. The air in Delhi rivals that in Beijing as the world’s most-polluted. Levels of dangerous particulate matter, known as PM 2.5, in the Indian capital often far exceed those deemed safe by the United Nations’ World Health Organization. The tiny particles, from dirt, soot and smoke, can lodge in the lungs and cause respiratory illnesses. The odd-even rule is part of a raft of measures introduced by authorities in Delhi in recent weeks to try to improve air quality, including a temporary ban on the registration of larger diesel-powered cars, sports-utility vehicles and minivans. But plenty of people won’t have to worry about the new odd-even restrictions. Women driving alone or accompanied by children under the age of 12, are exempt, as are cars driven by the physically disabled. Two-wheeled motors, basically motorcycles and scooters, as well as hybrid and electric cars and vans that run on compressed natural gas, will be allowed to drive without restriction. This means that tens of thousands of green-and-yellow autorickshaws and black and yellow taxis will run uninterrupted on Delhi roads. Cars with diplomatic and defense ministry license plates, the army, police, and some officials’ cars, including those belonging to the president, vice president and prime minister’s convoys, will be allowed to move through Delhi whenever they choose. Transport department vehicles and paramilitary force motors will also have unfettered access to the roads. As will cars ferrying members of Parliament, the chief justice of India, judges in the supreme and high courts and state chief ministers. Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, who is behind the restrictions, has said he will comply with the rules and carpool to get to the office. The rules don’t apply to emergency vehicles, including ambulances and fire engines, and hearses and prison vehicles are also not included. Remaining drivers without a free pass to ignore the rules have been advised to take the bus or metro, rent a car with the right number plate, or use a car-pooling service. All school students in Delhi are excused from school during the 15-day pilot. In order to free-up enough buses to add 6,000 more to the roads, Delhi’s government has said that it will cancel classes and commandeer school buses to ferry the extra passengers around the city. Mr. Kejriwal said the government might consider adding motorcycles and scooters to the banned list if the experiment is a success and the odd-even driving rule reimposed. This time around, there isn’t enough capacity in the public transport system to accommodate all the people who usually drive a motorcycle or scooter to work. When the pilot is over, Delhi authorities will take stock, Mr. Kejriwal said. He added that the odd-even driving plan might be enforced whenever Delhi’s air quality reaches hazardous levels in future, a policy already followed in Beijing.
Knowledge Graph
Examples
1 Social media has absolutely lost it since the Delhi government announced that vehicles with odd and even number plates will ply on alternate days in the city from January 1.
2 In fact they were so successful in reducing the emission levels and reaching their pollution control goals that they kept the odd-even rationing for only a day.
3 In the South American city of Mexico, the odd-even rationing policy or the Hoy No Circula (roughly and hilariously translating to 'today it doesn't circulate') was introduced as early as 1989.