By Nam Hyun-woo
The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) said Tuesday that it is considering enforcing a ban on citizens driving their own cars when the city’s air pollution rises to the “warning” level.
That is an element of a new plan for controlling the city’s air that has been polluted by fine particles in recent months. The city government said it will hold public hearings on the planned imposition of driving restrictions.
“It will decide whether to implement the ban after public hearings and polls, as well as collecting experts’ opinions,” an official at the SMG said.
According to the city government, vehicles affected will mostly be passenger automobiles, which can be substituted by mass transportation. Trucks and other business-purposed vehicles will likely be exempted from the ban.
The SMG said the plans aim to lower the average atmospheric concentration level of particulate matter (PM) 2.5 ― which refers to fine particles with diameters of 10 micrometers or less ― to 18 micrograms per cubic meter in 2024 from this year’s average 25. The current level is about two folds higher than that of overseas cities, including New York, London and Paris.
According to the plans, more vehicles will be fined for not being equipped with pollution-controlling devices.
From 2006, diesel engine cars graded as emissive by automobile inspection centers were required to install diesel-particulate filters. Otherwise, drivers of such cars were fined of 200,000 won if they enter low-emissions zones, including Seoul, Incheon and a number of cities in surrounding Gyeonggi Province.
Until last year, only Seoul-registered vehicles were affected, but from this year, such cars registered in areas around Seoul will be under regulation.
The move came as the capital city’s atmospheric concentration level of fine particles soared this month. Since PM is mainly comprised of nitrogen oxide emitted from automobiles, regulating such emissive cars will likely help lower the PM concentration level, according to the SMG.
Emissions from restaurants with barbecue equipment and jjimjilbangs, or Korean style dry saunas, will be monitored. The SMG will promote installing pollution-control devices to some 10,000 such restaurants and 263 jjimjilbangs.
The city government also said it will build a cooperative body with a number of Chinese cities, including Shanghai and Tianjin. They are believed to be the origin of fine particles that has affected Seoul’s air.
Seoul and Beijing will sign a memorandum of understanding for air-quality improvement as early as next month. The SMG said it has suggested Beijing use vacuum vehicles that remove dust from roads. Seoul currently has 37 vacuum vehicles in operation.