Besides food price hikes, Beijingers face higher parking fees in non-residential areas from April 1. As a new measure taken by the municipal government to east congestion, will it be helpful? Does it have any impact on your life?
The fee is now 10 yuan (1.5 U.S. dollar) for the first hour and after that 15 yuan per hour for a roadside car park inside the third-ring road and four neighboring business areas between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.
The road side parking fee in other areas inside the fifth-ring road has been raised to 6 yuan for the first hour and after that 9 yuan per hour.
Outside the fifth-ring road, road side parking costs 2 yuan for the first hour and 3 yuan per hour for the following hours, 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.
Fees at open and underground parking lots have also been raised.
"The number of parkers this morning has been more than halved, as the hourly parking fee has surged from 2 yuan to 8 yuan," said Yang Xiaodong, a toll collector at a parking lot located near the Sogo department store in the downtown area.
Yang said workers from nearby offices complained about the fee increase.
One driver, a man surnamed Yu, is considering switching to public buses.
"I work for 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.
Residents living in the suburbs while having to work downtown are caught in the middle. They are unwilling to pay the sky-high parking fees, but do not want to go to the trouble of using public transportation.
Beijing resident Zhao Zhenhai lives in Beijing's north, but works in the south, some 30 kilometers away from his home. He bought a car last year, hoping to make his trip to work more convenient.
However, he got more than he bargained for on the first day, as he was hit with whopping parking fees.
Zhao said, "When I prepared to leave the parking lot, I was asked to pay 60 yuan for parking 10 hours. I couldn't believe it."
With the sky-high parking fees, Zhao began to take buses. Then came a new problem.
He said, "I took buses to work on the second day, but it was so crowded. When I finally laid my feet on the bus, I found I was already late for work."
After weighing the pros and cons, another idea came to Mr. Zhao's head. He drove to the subway station first, then went to work by subway. However,his idea did not pan out as he had expected.
Since there's not enough parking spaces around the subway,he had to park illegally everyday.
And so do the drivers of more than 15-hundred cars around the subway station. Some cars are even parked on blind tracks.
Parking lot shortages can also be found at downtown areas.
In Xidan District, one of Beijing's most popular areas for shopping, cars are parked along the narrow roads, with those lining up to go underground contributing to the congestion.
But experts say it's unwise to add more parking places in downtown areas.
Zhang Zhuting, expert on transportation law, said, "If more parking places are added in downtown areas, there won't be enough space for cars to travel through, which will lead to another round of traffic jams."
Beijing had 4.8 million vehicles by the end of last year. (edited from Xinhua and CNTV)
