As if skyrocketing oil prices weren't enough of a damper on car-owning enthusiasm, Shenzhen, in South China's Guangdong Province, is contemplating a dramatic hike in parking fees.

The Shenzhen Traffic Police Department under the municipal Public Security Bureau has submitted a proposal to the municipal Price Bureau in which charges for public parking will have "a differentiated pricing structure."

For Class A locations, such as downtown areas, ports, railway stations and scenic spots, fees may rise to 21 yuan (US$2.60) for three hours. This represents an increase of 320 per cent. Citywide, charges for parking will surge 130 per cent on average.

That means an additional 694 yuan (US$85.57) per month for an average car owner in Shenzhen, on top of the current 534 yuan (US$ 65.84) in parking expenses.

The local people's congress will hold a public hearing on the matter on September 15. The increase, if passed by the legislature, will also mean that car owners will spend roughly half of their monthly "maintenance cost" on parking. Currently, the average car owner spends 1,950 yuan (US$240) a month to use their car in the city, including petrol, parking and tolls.

The purpose is not to discourage local residents from buying cars, said one official from the traffic police department.

"We are trying to steer the market in a healthier direction," he said. The price regulation will help develop "an advanced public transport network" before more private cars fill the streets.

Shenzhen has about 2,500 kilometres of roads, but it has 746,000 registered vehicles. The city has issued 7,000 new auto licences a month since the beginning of this year.

The vehicledensity in Shenzhen is very high, the official said, but the parking fees are lower than in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou.

In a sina.com survey earlier this year, 88 per cent of respondents in Shenzhen agreed that the shortfall was making parking difficult, but only 19 per cent supported higher parking fees. About 60 per cent suggested building more parking lots. Sixty per cent of the respondents were drivers, of whom two-thirds were also car owners.

Shanghai introduced a price increase for parking last March and will not consider another one in the near future, a local official said.

Beijing, with its 2.4 million vehicles, is mulling over a measure similar to the one in Shenzhen.

The new scheme will use "price differentiation," raising charges by factors such as time, location and the degree of congestion.

Tang Chuanxiong, a Shenzhen car owner, said the price hike is unacceptable to him. "The additional expense alone would equal the minimummonthly wage in our city. That will adversely affect sales of auto vehicles."

Perhaps, as half of the survey respondents said they would, he may want to sell his car and take public transport instead.

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