国际英语新闻:Paris to restrict car use to fight pollution

PARIS, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Paris will restrict car use on Monday as a measure to fight against surging air pollution, the city's Police Department announced on Saturday.

According to a statement published on the department's website, only cars with an uneven number are allowed to drive Monday, while public transport will be free at least till Monday night.

French Ecology Minister Segolene Royal on Friday called for limited use of private cars and trucks on Monday unless high levels of air pollution would go down.

She also announced on the same day all public transport would be free over the weekend to reduce the smog and encouraged citizens to use clean transports such as Velib and Autolib, which are public sharing services for bicycles and electric cars.

The increase in pollution level was caused by high temperatures, heavy traffic, industrial pollutants and the hot air re-circulating slowly across densely populated northern France and Paris.