Parking has long been a major headache for drivers in Shanghai. The Transportation Department is _ a new plan for the city's parking system. There are one million cars on the road in Shanghai but only enough public parking space to provide room for 15 percent of these vehicles . It is no wonder that local drivers get so worried trying to find a place to park. The city is seeing a rise in private car owners. In March, the city sent out 2,000 private car licenses, the highest number of licenses ever sent out in a month. And prices rose to 14,600 yuan, 500 more than in February. Industry experts say this suggests that local people have a strong, active interest in buying cars. By the year 2020, the number of automobiles in Shanghai will probably reach two million. If one parking lot is for each car, then a lot of parking space should be built for these vehicles. Downtown Shanghai is most short of parking space. However, experts point out that simply building more parking lots in downtown areas is not practical and doesn't provide an ideal solution. The idea of " Park & Ride" system has been suggested. This means that drivers can leave their vehicles in car parks nearby subway or bus stations and ride public transport to go downtown. Based on this idea, the city will limit the number of parking lots in downtown areas and demand higher parking fees but build more parking areas near main subway and bus stops. About   _   drivers can find places to park their cars in Shanghai now.
850,000 1,000,000 150,000 2,000,000