Free rides for Asiad closed

A newly launched free public transportation service for the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou has been cancelled as the enormous public response to the scheme could pose a security threat.
The government earlier this month launched the color-coding scheme for vehicles, effectively grounding half of the city’s 2.1 million private cars and those entering the city each day during the Asian Games.
As a remedy, free public transport service was to be offered for 30 working days beginning November 1.
The offer was met with unprecedented enthusiasm from Guangzhou residents. For days, subway trains were often crammed and stations were full as swarms of people lined up to take a free ride.
According to English.News.cn, Guangzhou’s transportation authorities had to rescind the offer as more than 8 million passengers on average took the subway each day starting November 1, a figure much higher than the subway system was designed to carry.