Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Dubai
New paid parking tariff and timing will come into effect in Dubai from May 28, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced on Wednesday.
In March, RTA had announced a change in paid parking hours, which are currently staggered from 8am to 1pm and 4pm to 9pm. The new timings, to come into effect from May 28 will be from 8am to 10pm.
Though, the changes in timing will be applicable in paid parking zones across Dubai, the new tariff will be in place in zones A and B, which covers only 23 per cent of the paid parking area.
In the restructured system, Dubai will have four paid parking zones. A and B will cover roadside parking and parking lots respectively in commercial areas and C and D will cover roadside parking and parking lots respectively in non-commercial areas.
In commercial areas, where the new tariff will come into force, a provision for a payment of Dh2 for 30 minutes for roadside parking has been made. The fee in zone A (commercial areas - roadside) will be Dh4 per hour, Dh8 for two hours, Dh12 for three hours and Dh16 for four hours.
The parking fee in zone B (commercial area - parking lot) will be Dh3 for one hour, Dh6 for two hours, Dh8 for three hours, Dh12 for four hours, Dh15 for five hours and Dh20 for 24 hours.
The commercial areas or zones A and B covers the central business districts in most of Deira and Bur Dubai as well as its adjoining localities.
In Deira, it includes, Abu Hail, Hor Al Anz, Al Baraha, Al Muteena, Al Khabaisi, Al Muraqabat, Rigga Al Buteen, Port Saeed, Al Rigga, Naif, Ayal Nasir, Deira Fish Market, Al Ras and Al Buteen.
On the Bur Dubai side, areas like Al Shindagha, Al Souq Al Kabeer, Al Hamriya, Umm Hurair 1,2, Oud Metha, Al Karama, Al Mankhool, A Raffa, Al Hudaiba, Al Kifaf, 2nd December street, and the sector between Dubai World Trade Centre and Interchange One on Shaikh Zayed Road fall under Zone A and B.
Also falling in commercial area category are 308th street and Al Saada street, both parallel to Shaikh Zayed between Dubai World Trade Centre and Interchange One. Interestingly, Dubai Marina and its adjoining areas also fall in this category.
Parking fee has also been increased in RTA’s multi-storey car parks, from Dh3 per hour to Dh5 per hour.
However, parking fees will remain same for the rest of Dubai, which falls under zones D and C and covers 77 per cent of the total paid parking spaces in the city.
The unchanged tariff for zone C (non-commercial - roadside) is Dh2 for one hour, Dh5 for two hours, Dh8 for three hours and Dh11 for four hours. For zone D (non-commerical - parking lots) will remain Dh2 for one hour, Dh4 for two hours, Dh5 for three hours, Dh7 for four hours and Dh10 for 24 hours.
Recently, Downtown Dubai and Business Bay areas were added to the paid parking zones. The Downtown area is designated zone G, while Business Bay falls under zones C and D. Both areas won’t have be affected by change in tariff, while regular parking timing of 8am to 10pm will apply.
In the two special zones of E (Deira Fish Market) and F (Tecom), there will be a different timing. In Deira Fish Market the paid parking hours will extend till 11pm and in Tecom areas the paid parking hours will be from 8am to 6pm.
Amendments have also been to the tariff for seasonal parking permits. The new Category A seasonal permit rates for are Dh1,400 for three months, Dh2,500 for six months and Dh4,500 for one year.
The new rates for seasonal parking permits for Category B are Dh700 for three months, Dh1,300 for six months and Dh2,500 for one year.
The new tariff rates for seasonal parking permits for multilevel parking facilities are Dh2,000 for three months, Dh4,000 for six months, Dh8,000 for one year and Dh300 for three months for students.
The RTA in an earlier statement had told Gulf News that the ‘A’ category valid seasonal parking card holders can use their cards in all zones A, B, C and D , while B category valid seasonal parking card holders can use their cards in zones B and D.
The seasonal parking cards are not valid in any of the special areas including Downtown Dubai, Business Bay, Tecom and Deira Fish Market.
Maitha Mohammad Bin Adai, CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency said: “the decision to regulate the use of parking in Dubai involves a parking fee hike effective from May 28, covering only 23 per cent of total parking slots in Dubai.”
She added that majority of the parking area, which are 77 per cent of 130 slots will not be affected by the fee hike.
She said that the Decision intends to increase the availability of parking slots in high-demand areas to the largest possible number of users.
“The main objective of the decision is to offer a solution for the scarcity of vacant parking slots in congested areas of the city,” she added.
She said that apart from revising the tariff and timing, RTA has also made available free parking permits and packages for a number of community segments.
“11 types of parking permits will be available to a variety of community segments to serve their legitimate needs. The applications for these permits should be supported by documentary evidences,” she said.
These 11 categories include permanently disabled, temporary disabled, disabled tourists and visitors of the Emirate, patients with chronic illnesses regularly visiting hospitals, seniors over 60 years of age, citizens residing in controlled public parking zones, in addition to GCC citizens residing in controlled public parking zones, government entities, consulates operating in the Emirate, and residents in residential communities where parking is prohibited at night for non-residents, in addition to permits at discounted rates offered to university students.
She said that the new parking policy conforms to the best practices of the industry and is considered the least expensive when compared to similar policies of major cities such as London, Singapore and Hong Kong.
by Shafaat Shahbandari Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2016. All rights reserved.
