BEIJING - Beijing will take more than half of its 3 million cars off the roads for Augusts Olympic Games in a bid to guarantee air quality and improve traffic flow, local media reported on Wednesday.

The traffic operation plan for the Olympics and Paralympics, which take place in September, was completed, an unnamed official on the citys transportation committee told the advisory body to Beijings Municipal Congress, Beijing News reported.

The official said public transport would put on more services during the Games with 173 shuttle bus lines and 34 lanes dedicated to Olympic traffic, seven running 24 hours a day.

More than 1,000 new vehicles hit the roads every day in the Chinese capital and officials estimate that there will be 3.3 million by the time the Games open on August 8.

During a four-day test last August, 1.3 million vehicles were taken off the roads on alternate days depending on whether their number plates ended with even or odd numbers.

Acting Mayor Guo Jinlong said earlier this week that cutting emissions and curbing pollution were priorities for the city government this year.

But the task of controlling pollution and traffic congestion is arduous, Guo said, while delivering a government work report to the Congress that started its annual session on Sunday.