Rob drivers to pay cadres. That is the saying private car owners in Shanghai use to vent their anger towards the worsening traffic situation.
The irate drivers have reason to grumble, as a vehicle number plate costs them the equivalent of one year's savings for the privilege of getting repeatedly stuck on the bumpy streets of the mainland's most wired city.
Last year, a car owner had to spend 42,000 yuan (HK$49,000) for a plate to qualify his four-wheel vehicle to clog the streets. At one point not long ago, the price broke 50,000 yuan. Still, the traffic is as bad as in any metropolis in the world.
Shanghai is the only mainland city that embarks on a controversial monthly bidding system for plates, in what the city government describes as an efficient method to limit the number of vehicles.
The officials claimed that the proceeds would be used to maintain the streets and upgrade traffic conditions.
But it's not working because of the breakneck growth of China's auto industry. What's more, the city government came under fire for not making the use of the funds public.