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April 2, 2011

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Beijing parking fee hike

BEIJING started charging higher parking fees in non-residential areas yesterday, in a bid to reduce the number of cars on the city's overcrowded roads.

Parking fees for roadside car parks are now 10 yuan (US$1.5) for the first hour of parking and 15 yuan for each following hour. Underground car parks will now charge 6 yuan per hour and off-street parking spaces will cost 8 yuan per hour. These fees apply inside the third ring road and neighboring business areas between 7am and 9pm.

Roadside parking fees in other areas inside the fifth ring road have been raised to 6 yuan for the first hour and 9 yuan for each following hour, according to the municipal commission of development and reform.

Before the hikes, roadside parking fees were 10 yuan per hour in 13 major downtown business and shopping areas and 2 yuan per hour in other areas.

"The number of cars this morning is half of what it usually is," said Yang Xiaodong, a toll collector at a parking lot near the Sogo department store in the downtown area.

One driver, surnamed Yu, said he was considering switching to public buses. "I work at least nine hours a day, so the monthly parking fee will grow to nearly 3,000 yuan. I can't afford it," said Yu, who works in Xuanwumen.

Beijing had a total of 4.8 million vehicles on its roads at the end of last year. In a bid to cut numbers, this year only 240,000 cars will be registered via a new lottery system - a third of last year's figure.



 

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