Beijing traffic curbs for Olympic closing night gala

Similar procedures for moving the huge crowd in and out of the Bird's Nest during the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony will be adopted today to ensure the Olympic closing night gala will bring the Games to a smooth conclusion.

The core area around the Olympic Green, including the Bird's Nest, will open to the public from 4pm today, and spectators are encouraged to take public transport, Zhou Zhengyu, deputy director of Beijing municipal communications committee, told a press conference Saturday.

Twenty-eight special bus routes will start operations from 4:30 pm, linking the core area to various parts of the city, and metro lines will run around the clock, he said.

"Spectators can take public transport for free if they have closing ceremony tickets," he said.

A total of 150,000 people are expected to attend the closing ceremony, including 90,000 spectators, according to official figures released Saturday.

During the ceremony, fireworks will be set off in the city's 18 districts and counties, according to organizers. Wang Li, deputy director of the city's traffic administration bureau, encouraged people to stay at home and watch TV to avoid causing traffic congestion.

Wang reminded the public that traffic controls will be tight today around the Games' core area, and suggested people avoid using their own cars.