Fewer cars are using parking lots in downtown Shenzhen on weekdays after parking fees were raised from Friday.

Under the new rules, parking costs 5 yuan (US$0.62) for the first hour and 1 yuan for each additional hour during the weekend in the area, while the fee is 15 yuan for the first hour on weekdays.

An employee of the Pengji parking lot at Huaqiangbei said some of the 300 parking spaces remained unoccupied Friday, a rare scene in recent years.

He estimated that the number of cars using the parking lot had dropped 30 percent after the increase in parking fees.

"But the vehicle flow returned during the weekend when a citywide discount tariff for off-peak hour applied," he said.

Most parking lots in Dongmen are even more crowded during the weekend as parking is cheaper during that time.

Major department stores and shopping malls also saw more cars in their lots during the past weekend.

However, CITIC Plaza, The MIXc and KingGlory Plaza denied they had plans of increasing parking fees, while the Parknshop supermarket, Rainbow and MOI department stores will continue to offer free parking for shoppers.

At least 50,000 of the city's total 350,000 parking spaces became costlier starting Friday.

According to the new rule, parking fees in the city center have been hiked from less than 5 yuan per hour to 15 yuan for the first hour and 1.5 yuan every additional 30 minutes during peak hours on weekdays.

However, there is no increase in the monthly parking fees for the 250,000 parking spaces in residential areas and public sector buildings. Temporary users, however, need to pay an extra 5 to 10 yuan per day.

The government expects traffic flow to decrease by 12 percent temporarily and 4 percent in the long term due to the parking fee jump, which will alleviate downtown traffic congestion and encourage the use of public transport, said a spokesman for the communications bureau surnamed Hu.

The new rules could raise local car owners' monthly parking expenses from an average of 534 yuan to 694 yuan, an increase of 30 percent. A spokesman for the pricing bureau said that parking fees would count for nearly half the cost of keeping a car.

The new tariff also made Shenzhen the most expensive mainland city - along with Shanghai - in terms of parking fees.

Editor: Yan