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Experiment was mixed blessing for capital's busy commuters

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Beijing's four-day car ban trial proved little barrier to the city's richest and little inconvenience to its poorest, but those affected had varying opinions about its value.

The ban was lifted yesterday and, despite moderate winds and sunshine, Beijing's air quality fell back to Grade 3 - polluted and unsuitable for athletic activities.

Saxophone-playing subway busker Wang Haiyang , 40, had not benefited from the increase in passengers. 'The subway may have been more crowded, but ... I earned about the same,' he said.

Xia Xiaoyu , who commutes from the suburbs each day in her Mini Cooper, noticed a difference. The 26-year-old self-described environmentalist said she had alternated use of her Mini with another family car.

'I still drove - either in my car or my dad's Land Rover,' she said. 'But the traffic was much better, and air quality probably improved, too. I hope we can have a ban every day.'

But language-school director Timothy Patton, who uses taxis, said the four days were a nightmare.

'Before the ban, there were 100 taxis waiting for one person. Now we have 100 people fighting for one taxi,' he said. 'It is hard to see that the air quality had improved much.'

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