The allocation of income from Shanghai's license plate auctions in 2013

Many residents of Shanghai pay close attention to the city's monthly license plate auctions. While the focus is usually on the average price of successful bids, many have also wondered what the funds generated by these auctions are used for. Tuesday saw the Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau release information related to expenditures derived from winning plate bids last year. According to the bureau, the auctions generated 8.79 billion yuan ($1.43 billion), of which 7.4 billion was funneled into various subsidies. These subsidies were allocated as follows:

Metro transport construction.

40.54% (3 billion yuan)

Purchasing new buses.

26.49% (1.96 billion yuan)

Discounted transfer fares to bus and metro passengers.

12.43% (920 million yuan)

Free bus fares for senior citizens.

7.97% (590 million yuan)

Maintenance and construction costs at public transport facilities.

7.84% (580 million yuan)

Other services purchased by the government.

4.73% (350 million yuan)

Source: eastday.com