Beijing started charging higher parking fees in non-residential areas on Friday in a bid to reduce the number of cars on the city's overcrowded roads.

Parking fees for roadside car parks are now 10 yuan (about 1.5 U.S. dollars) for the first hour of parking and 15 yuan for each following hour. Underground car parks are charged 6 yuan per hour, and off-street parking spaces cost 8 yuan per hour.

These new fees apply for parking spaces inside the third ring road and several neighboring business areas, and will be charged between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Roadside parking fees in other areas inside the fifth ring road have been raised to 6 yuan for the first hour and 9 yuan for each following hour.

Outside the fifth ring road, roadside parking costs 2 yuan for the first hour and 3 yuan for each following hour, according to the municipal commission of development and reform.

Fees at open and underground parking lots outside the third ring road have also been raised.

Before the hikes, roadside parking fees were 10 yuan per hour in 13 major downtown business and shopping areas and 2 yuan per hour in other areas.

The move was meant to alleviate traffic jams through price leverages, said Pan Bo, an official with the Beijing Municipal Committee of Communication.

"The number of parkers this morning has been more than halved, as the hourly parking fee has surged from 2 yuan to 8 yuan," said Yang Xiaodong, a toll collector at a parking lot located near a Sogo department store in the downtown area.

Yang said workers from nearby offices complained about the fee increase.

One driver, a man surnamed Yu, is considering switching to public buses.

"I work for at least nine hours a day, so the monthly parking fee will grow to nearly 3,000 yuan. I can't afford it," said Yu, who works in Xuanwumen, which is only about 2 km from Tian'anmen Square in the center of the capital city.

A more discouraging fact for Yu is that he cannot expect toll collectors to make an exception for him, as before.

"The new rules will be strictly implemented," Yang said, adding that his employer could be fined up to 500,000 yuan if toll collectors are found to have provided parkers with "discounts" to solicit business.

Some toll collectors would charge less if car owners agree not to ask for a receipt, which proves that the fee was received. This allows collectors to pocket the money instead of passing along the money to the company.

Beijing had registered more than 4.8 million motor vehicles by the end of last year, with 800,000 new ones purchased in 2010. A private car annually travels 15,000 km a year, more than twice the figure in Tokyo.

The growth in the number of automobiles has become a major cause of Beijing's traffic congestion, said Guo Jifu, director of the Beijing Transport Research Center.

In 2004, Beijing began battling traffic congestion by improving the city's infrastructure and public transport. However, the efforts were met by a surge in the number of vehicles.

At the end of 2010, the municipal government rolled out a vehicle purchase limit that was considered the toughest-ever measure to combat traffic congestion.

The measure only allowed 240,000 cars to be registered in 2011 through a new lottery system. Beijing registered nearly three times as many cars last year.

Compared with the compulsory purchase limit, the increase in parking fees is more widely accepted as a means to alleviate traffic jams in developed countries, said Wang Wei, a professor with the National School of Administration.

"Of course, the premise is that the government can provide sound public transport services," Wang added.

In 2010, Beijing had 14 subways in operation that covered more than 300 km. The infrastructure is expected to grow to 561 km in five years.

This year, the municipal government will pour 200 million yuan to relieve traffic jams. Most of the money will be used to improve public transport facilities.