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Solutions sought to ease parking space problem

2013-01-30 13:21 Shanghai Daily     Web Editor: Wang YuXia comment

Shortage of parking space in the city again came up for discussion among lawmakers and political advisers yesterday.

Although many lawmakers prefer to use public transport and play the perfect role model, it is hardly the solution for the growing problem.

Parking, along with traffic jams, are among the top agenda for the city as it tries to address the increasing vehicle volume amid limited resources.

There are about 780,000 public parking facilities in downtown, well short of the preferred 1.14 million.

"The parking issue has lagged behind in the first place," Chen Hailin, a member of the city's top political advisory body, the Shanghai committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, pointed out.

Chen suggested putting technology to use to gradually develop parking into an industry with more parking lift systems to fight lack of space.

Resident community managements should also be encouraged to renovate the underground parking facilities and civil-defense structures to make more space, Chen said, while adding that current regulations also need to be adjusted.

No immediate solution

Another 220,000 private cars will hit the roads this year, with a total volume of 1.62 million.

The figure does not include out-of-town vehicles.

There are plans to increase parking areas both in public and residential areas in downtown Shanghai in the next five years.

But Li Zhengwu, chairman of the Shanghai Parking Service Association, said it may still not be enough.

"After all, the demand to buy a car is still very high among local residents," said Li, adding the problem "cannot be solved in a short time."

Meanwhile, car owners and drivers are coming up with innovative ways to park their cars.

At the city's two airports, cars are parked along the elevated roads that lead to the terminals while waiting to pick up passengers. But this is not because of lack of space. The airports allow free parking for only 20 minutes, after which the driver has to shell out 20 yuan (US$3.21).

In Hongkou District, residents used parking locks which helped them reserve space by the side of the road. But authorities ruled that it was illegal and removed them.

Officials with the city traffic administration said private cars cannot be parked on public roads, even though they make some concession for a certain period of time.

More than 270,000 cars have no designated parking areas in the night, traffic officials said.

In a downtown middle school in Changning District, trees were cut in a green area to make way for car parking. The school had not made any provision for cars when it was being built.

"People will always find ways to park their cars even where there are none available," Chen said.

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