Nagano police, which carried a two-hour test during the morning rush hour, said the volume of traffic saw an average 14.6 percent drop compared with the volume of traffic measured during a similar test conducted in late November.

The police, which targets a 30 percent cut in traffic volume during the Feb. 7-22 Games, is appealing to local residents to cut down on the use of private cars and commercial vehicles in order to avoid traffic jams.

''We're within sight of target to eliminate traffic jams (during the Games),'' said a police officer in the traffic planning section of Nagano prefectural police. ''But we can't breathe easy yet on these results,'' he added. (Kyodo News)