Parking Fee at Main Centers in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI — Vehicle owners in the Capital will have to pay fees for parking in high-demand city centre locations from next month, according to a media release on Sunday.
The new policies to be rolled out by the Abu Dhabi Department of Transport (ADDOT) in July to tackle the growing shortage of parking space in the capital will also specify fines for those violating the parking rules.

The release however did not specify the exact date of introduction of ?the fee system. Legislation and guidelines will be issued to regulate the use ?of both public and private parking spaces, while control procedures will be tightened and rigorously enforced, according to a department release received here on Sunday.

A number of parking meters have already been installed around the city centre. The ADDOT proposes to introduce residents’ parking schemes and develop parking facilities in identified ‘hot spots’, with new measures to improve traffic flow and increase the number of parking spaces wherever possible and also improve the quality of underground parking.

The programme has been developed using the latest technology, and ?provides for options to pay parking ?fees through the mobile phone, credit card or pre-paid smart card.

The smart cards can also be integrated with other forms of payment and ticketing systems across the public transport network in future.

Residents will be able to benefit from an advanced electronic licensing system, while the control and ?management of the entire programme is integrated into a central computer network which regulates performance across every project element, the ?release said.

“The Abu Dhabi Parking Management Programme includes steps to stimulate changes in driver behaviour, discourage violation of regulations on ?parking usage, and to extend the ?number of parking places available. It will seek to promote a fairer and, ?more transparent system that favours residents and supports local businesses. It should not be viewed as a silver bullet by any means, but we believe ?that positive impacts of the programme will begin to be felt by both drivers ?and residents before year-end,” Najeeb Al Zarooni, Parking Director in ADDoT said in the release.

Studies are also underway to ?examine the possible sites for the ?development of public car park buildings in several locations across the city centre, as part of the efforts to find long-term solutions.

ADDoT is now weighing two options — introduction of quickly built temporary parking buildings, or normal or automatic parking buildings built above or underground. This will depend on the site location and logistics.

The complete strategy to address city-wide public parking, which will also spell out the time lines for the implementation of each stage of activity, will be announced in July.