Parking meters to be installed in Abu Dhabi for first time
Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Municipalities and Agriculture Department is upgrading its parking system by installing meters which enable residents to pay for tickets via mobile phones, coins and prepaid parking cards, a senior official said yesterday.
"Work is underway in the central business district between Hamdan and Khalifa Streets to install parking meters, which will be functional on trial basis for three months as from July 1," said engineer Juma Mubarak Al Junaibi, undersecretary of the department.
No tariff has been fixed as yet, but a recommendation submitted to the Abu Dhabi Executive Council suggests that fees of roadside parking slots should be more expensive than that of underground parking to encourage motorists to use them, sources said.
"The parking meters will be connected to a control room at the municipality, so any violations of parking tickets will be sent straight to Abu Dhabi Traffic Police," a source said.
About 1,000 roadside parking slots will be turned into paid parking in the first phase, said engineer Saif Ahmad Al Qubaisi, assistant undersecretary of the department.
"The Abu Dhabi Municipality is offering an underground parking behind Zakher Hotel, which accommodates about 500 cars for free during road works," he added. "Each car will be allowed to park for a maximum period of 48 hours at a time in that." Al Qubaisi said traffic movement will be monitored round-the-clock to evaluate how successful the system is.
Payment: Motorists can use coin, card or phone
Motorists can pay using coins, prepaid parking cards or mobile phones.
To pay using a mobile phone, motorists will only have to send an SMS with the number of hours they wish to use the parking space and the area, and then automatically receive the ticket from the parking meter to place on the dashboard.
The telephone number receiving motorists' SMS is directly linked to a control room at the municipality, which will then be charged to the phone bill.
No tariff has been fixed as yet, but a recommendation submitted to the Abu Dhabi Executive Council suggests that fees of roadside parking slots should be more expensive than that of underground parking to encourage motorists to use them, sources said.
"The parking meters will be connected to a control room at the municipality, so any violations of parking tickets will be sent straight to Abu Dhabi Traffic Police," a source said.
About 1,000 roadside parking slots will be turned into paid parking in the first phase, said engineer Saif Ahmad Al Qubaisi, assistant undersecretary of the department.
"The Abu Dhabi Municipality is offering an underground parking behind Zakher Hotel, which accommodates about 500 cars for free during road works," he added. "Each car will be allowed to park for a maximum period of 48 hours at a time in that." Al Qubaisi said traffic movement will be monitored round-the-clock to evaluate how successful the system is.
Payment: Motorists can use coin, card or phone
Motorists can pay using coins, prepaid parking cards or mobile phones.
To pay using a mobile phone, motorists will only have to send an SMS with the number of hours they wish to use the parking space and the area, and then automatically receive the ticket from the parking meter to place on the dashboard.
The telephone number receiving motorists' SMS is directly linked to a control room at the municipality, which will then be charged to the phone bill.
Comments
There are no comments yet for this item
Join the discussion