Focus
Illegal parking lots mushroom after hikes
By Wang Chao (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-14 08:26
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The blue sign warns that illegal parking will be video-taped. [Zou Hong/ China Daily] |
Illegal parking lots are thriving after parking fees were raised by up to 10 yuan ($1.5) per hour in 13 business areas within the Fourth Ring Road.
An illegal parking lot with space for 40 cars can earn almost 10,000 yuan per month.
According to the new parking fees standard introduced on April 1 in Beijing, car owners are paying 50 to 100 yuan per day for above-ground parking if they spend eight hours working in the office.
"That's too much for me," Li Fei, a worker in a public relations company in Chaoyang district told METRO. "The lot where I used to park my car got so expensive that I had to move my car to other lots or in the lane; the parking lots I found might be illegal, but at least I can get some space to park and have someone watching my car."
Li is not the only one who opts for illegal parking lots. According to an investigation done by Mirror Evening News, some illegal parking lots charge only two yuan per hour, and they even provide invoices for the parking, which attracts many drivers.
According to the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission, around 70 illegal parking lots have already been reported.
"Illegal parking lots look almost the same as legal ones," said Xia Jianzhong, a taxi driver for almost 20 years. "The only difference is that they didn't register with the government."
According to Xia, many illegal parking lots operate in the neighborhood of shopping malls and hospitals, and some parking lots are close to governmental offices, "because if it is near the government office, nobody will think it is illegal."
"The illegal parking lots have everything that the legal parking lots have, including a license board, uniform, and invoices, so it is hard to tell the illegal ones from the legal ones," a worker in a parking lot near Beijing Third Hospital said in an interview with Mirror Evening News.
The worker said an illegal parking lot named Hai'an was repeatedly closed by the police several times, but "comes back to life". "Sometimes when the police come, the workers will immediately run away; but when the police leave, they come back and operate again."
It is a difficult situation for the police. "We have closed the parking lot several times, but since their actions didn't meet the requirements for criminal detention, the only thing we can do is to give them a warning," a police officer told Mirror Evening News.
According to a member of the enforcement team of city management committee, from Chaoyang district, surnamed Liu, legal parking lots should be registered with the committee. "The parking lots should draw clear and accurate parking lines, and have a board showing parking fares."
"But with the high parking fares now, it is difficult to persuade drivers to use legal parking lots, even when they can tell the difference." Liu added.
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