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Abu Dhabi: Paid parking will be introduced in the city for the first time as early as May but officials have not confirmed the exact date.
In an exclusive interview with Gulf News, Juma Al Junaibi, Director-General of Abu Dhabi Municipality, said: "Over 2,500 parking machines are to be installed in the city as part of the new Parking Management Programme. For this purpose, we divided Abu Dhabi city into 43 sectors.
"Across these 43 sectors there are more than 71,000 parking spaces, inclusive of 5,000 spaces in underground parking lots. However studies show that during peak times there is a need for over 100,000 spaces."
It will cost Dh2 or Dh1 per hour depending on the category of the parking spot. The municipality has classified parking spots into two kinds.
Premium spaces will be those below buildings and close to entrances, while ordinary spaces will be those in parking lots or underground parking areas.
Commercial areas
Only commercial areas will have paid parking. The first phase of the project will cover four sectors around Hamdan Street (Fifth Street) and Khalifa Street (Third Street).
The area around Al Gaith Tower, the Next store and Al Noor Hospital will be where the parking toll begins.
The system will allow users to pay for parking via mobile phones, coins or cards. Asides from dirhams, the coins can be other currencies of the six GCC nations.
Cards can be credit cards, pre-paid cards or Etisalat cards. Alternatively, residents can obtain a "virtual permit," via a dedicated website.
The in-house journal of the British Parking Association (BPA), described the capital's new system as the world's biggest. It said that Abu Dhabi was seeking to accomplish in two to three years what London did in 50.
The parking management project (PMP) got the nod from the Executive Council a few weeks ago. In 2006 there was also talk of implementing paid parking in the capital.
However, higher authorities instructed the municipality to contract a private company to enforce the system, which made the municipality restudy the whole project.
It is understood that an internationally-known private firm has been contracted to handle the operations side of the whole system. But the municipality will monitor and keep track of the system.
Detailing the need for the PMP, Al Junaibi said: "Our aim is to encourage people to use the public transport system more and more and to rely less on cars.
"Congestion on the roads can be eased, which is important, we are going through a dynamic increase in population as well as the number of vehicles. The current tariffs are only temporary, once the city's public transport systems are developed, this will be increased."
Initiative: Why it is needed
- Accelerated demographic growth
- Housing shortages and shared accommodation leading to more cars per housing units
- An increase in registered cars
- Commercial buildings without parking facilities
- Lack of reliable public transport
- Abu Dhabi Municipality
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