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Dubib.com » News » Business » Tue 17 Jul 2012 09:47:45 am

Abu Dhabi to extend paid parking hours

Posted Tue 17 Jul 2012 09:47:45 am in News, Business | By Dubib.com News Desk


Paid parking hours will be extended to midnight after the Eid Al Fitr holidays, announced General Manager of Mawaqif Mohammed Nasser Al Otaiba on Monday while outlining new features of Abu Dhabi’s parking policy.

 

Mawaqif will also extend the grace period for expired residential permits, granting customers up to one month to renew their permits without penalty.

“We took this decision based on the continuous requests from residents who want to receive their guests a little bit later in their homes and from people who need to go to commercial areas,” said Otaiba. He specified that areas dedicated to residential parking would be unaffected, with paid parking hours continuing to end at 9pm.

In addition to these permanent changes in the Mawaqif parking programme, certain policies will be implemented temporarily during the month of Ramadan and the Eid holidays, said Al Otaiba. Paid parking hours will be reduced and split into two periods -from 9am to 4pm and 10.30pm to 2.30am- to accommodate the fasting residents and worshippers attending mosques. Parking will be free of charge from the 29th of Ramadan to the third day of Eid, he said, urging drivers to take advantage of this period in a safe and considerate manner.

Al Otaiba emphasised that Mawaqif is striving to meet the needs of Abu Dhabi drivers. He pointed out that Mawaqif has added 6,000 parking spaces on Abu Dhabi Island since its initiation in 2009 and plans to create an additional 14,000 spaces by 2016. Mawaqif parking management currently regulates 87,957 parking spaces in Abu Dhabi.

Five temporary, multi-storey steel parking structures will help alleviate parking woes by providing 150-250 spots in high-demand areas like Khalidiyah and the Central Market area, said Al Otaiba. A permanent parking structure containing 1,200 spaces is planned for Nadja Street near Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council, he added.

Based on the number of permits issued, Al Otaiba denied a shortage in residential parking. “We do have areas where the level of demand is about to meet the number of parking spaces, so we are working very aggressively for the next five years to provide the extra 20,000 parking [spaces],” he said.

Mawaqif does not fine legally parked cars without permits or payment receipts for two weeks following the implementation of paid parking in a new area, which Al Otaiba said causes the perception of a shortage. “After those two weeks, you will see the change,” he said.



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