Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    THE city government is considering imposing adjustment fees at noncommercial parking facilities for government agencies, institutions and enterprises along with commercial parking facilities to ensure fairness in implementing new parking fee plans.

    The parking places at 800 noncommercial facilities account for 10 percent of the 1 million parking places in the city, Che Xiaoping, head of Shenzhen Road Traffic Management Center, said during briefing of representatives who attended a second hearing over parking adjustment fee plans Thursday.

    According to revised drafts, which were improved after the first hearing Aug. 21, Shenzhen transportation commission will adopt a tiered fare system to charge parking adjustment fees. Fees will be charged each time a driver enters a parking lot, rather than in a way that takes into account the length of time drivers leave their vehicles parked.

    Rates will vary based on time and location as well.

    According to Plan A, drivers who enter A areas — the most crowded areas in Luohu, Futian, Nanshan and Qianhai — will be charged a maximum of 40 yuan (US$6.40) per entrance. Those that park in B areas — Yantian, Bao’an, Longgang, Longhua, Guangming, Pingshan and Dapeng, plus the less-crowded areas of Luohu, Futian and Nanshan — will be charged a maximum of 20 yuan per entrance. The fee for other areas will be 10 yuan each time. The fees will be lowered by 25 percent if a driver only enters or leaves during the rush hour periods: 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

    During nonpeak periods — 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. — the fees will be lowered by 50 percent. From 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., there will be no adjustment fees.

    According to Plan B, which sets standards of 60 yuan, 30 yuan and 15 yuan per entrance in different areas — drivers only have to pay half the fare if they enter or leave the parking lots during rush hour periods. If they enter and leave the parking lots during nonpeak periods, the fare will be 25 percent of the normal one. If they enter and leave parking lots between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., they will not be charged adjustment fees.

    If either of the plans is adopted, Shenzhen transportation commission estimates that around 700,000 to 830,000 drivers will cease using their cars for commuting and switch to public transportation.

    “The new proposed plans are reasonable, practical and could be effective in reducing traffic congestion over the span of two to three years, but they will not solve the problem in the long run,” Jin Yan, a lawyer who attended the hearing, said during an interview Thursday.

    Jin said the parking adjustment fee, as it’s known, should be renamed the “congestion fee” — as its purpose is to reduce traffic jams. “It is more reasonable to charge fees according to locations, time periods and the amount of times drivers enter parking lots,” he said.

    He suggested that the government give more details about the plans, since the drafts, which will affect millions of drivers, are too simplistic.

    Jin had received more than 300 emails from members of the public who oppose the plans, which will place a financial burden on drivers.

    “The government should let the public know about the plans through detailed explanations. For example, neither of the plans grants free parking for periods of 15 minutes or 30 minutes,” Jin said.

    Jin suggested the government employ alternative methods — license plate restrictions, development of public transportation — to solve congestion problems.

    “Among the five methods proposed to relieve congestions, the congestion fee plan is the only measure that will collect fees from drivers,” Jin said.

    Hu Yuzhou, a parking lot operator, said that he thinks both of the plans are unsatisfactory, and that the government is making a simple problem “complicated.”

    The government would need to renovate 6,000 parking lots at a cost of 1 billion yuan to implement either new fee plan, a massive project that could take three years, according to Hu.

    Another parking lot operator, Zhong Zigui, said he thought the government shouldn’t charge fees during the nonpeak periods, though the drafts had been much improved.

    Zhong also feared that fee plans which charge drivers each time they enter a parking lot will have a negative impact on industries like logistics, which rely heavily on using parking lots for short periods of time. The fee plan also poses a challenge to parking lot operators, who fear high prices will scare away drivers and cause conflicts between them and their clients.

    By Tuesday, the number of Shenzhen-registered vehicles had reached 3.05 million, making Shenzhen the densest city in China in terms of number of cars. Shenzhen also has the highest population density of any city in China.