UAE | Traffic and Transport

Mawaqif paid parking services to be introduced in new areas

A total of 1,436 surface parking bays and 723 underground parking bays will become available to the general public starting on Sunday.

  • WAM
  • Published: 00:00 May 23, 2010
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: Abdul Rahman/Gulf News
  • A Mawaqif official places warning notices on illegally parked vehicles near Corniche Road in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

Abu Dhabi: The Department of Transport (DoT) yesterday announced the implementation of Mawaqif paid parking services in localities between Corniche Road, East Road and Khalifa Street.

A total of 1,436 surface parking bays and 723 underground parking bays will become available to the general public starting on Sunday.

This step is part of the Mawaqif 2010 plan, revealed earlier this year, which aims to manage car parking facilities and spaces in Abu Dhabi.

Paid parking is enforced from 8am to 9pm, Saturdays to Thursdays, at a rate of Dh3 per hour for premium parking (the kerbstones can be identified by their turquoise-and-white colour scheme) with a maximum stay of four hours, and Dh2 per hour or Dh15 per day for standard parking (the kerbstones are coloured in turquoise and black).

Engineer Najeeb Al Zarouni, general manager of parking at the Department of Transport said: "The Department of Transport is introducing additional services and has issued tenders for the provision of automated car parking facilities, and car parking structures in a number of areas, with the aim of providing comprehensive and sustainable solutions to address the growing needs for parking."

Residents in the area can apply for resident permits from the Mawaqif customer service centres. Residential permits allow road users to park in any available standard parking bay in the locality where they reside. By clearly displaying the permit on the vehicle dashboard, they will be exempted from paying hourly or daily tariffs at the parking meters. Such permits will be made available to owners of properties or tenants and to their relatives — with a maximum of two permits per household. Each permit is sector and vehicle specific.

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The documents required to obtain the resident permit include: passport copy with valid residency visa, lease of contract or residency ownership proof, most recent utility bill, vehicle ownership details, and relationship proof for the vehicle owner if different from the tenancy contract.

Annual fees for the resident permits are Dh800 for the first vehicle and Dh1,200 for the second vehicle. Verification and processing of resident permits, takes a minimum of three working days.

Customer service representatives will assist members of the public at the Department of Transport customer service centre on Hamdan Street Saturday through Thursday from 7am to 9pm, and from 5pm to 9pm on Fridays. The second Department of Transport customer service centre is at Marina Mall, and will be open from 7.30am to 3.30pm Sunday through Thursday.

Comments (7)

  1. Added 18:49 May 23, 2010

    The mawaqif parking system is pathetic. What changes will the paid parking make if there is no extra "physical" parking space?! We never had parking space before, and we dont have one now. The only difference is that we now pay for that non-existent parking space! And why only 2 permits per house hold? what would happen to people sharing houses (renting bedspace or a room)? or to a larger family with more than 2 cars!!?

    Sam, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

  2. Added 16:54 May 23, 2010

    Its my humble request to department of transport and MAWAQIF to put proper Banners or board saying PAID PARKING as there is not a single board saying its paid parking in the streets of PAID parking sectors, and many including myself end up in payiing fines, they have put the board on entrance of sector instead of in the sector, no one will look at that board while manovering into the sector having paid parking. Even the Parking meters doesn't have any label saying PAID PARKING METERS etc. Thanks wajahat

    wajahat, abu dhabi, United Arab Emirates

  3. Added 16:13 May 23, 2010

    There is no point in transforming existing parking into paid parking I do not think the problem has been solved infact this transformationhas created problems in other areas of Abu Dhabi. The only way to solve the parking issue is to construct new parking spaces and force landlords to be part of this solution.

    Omar, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  4. Added 13:49 May 23, 2010

    Why only have lease of contract or residency ownership proof (flat) can get permit for parking?why you will not give to people that having car but they can afford only for room sharing?Its unfair. The authority should look this matter.

    Anonymous, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

  5. Added 12:30 May 23, 2010

    It is really funny, that Mawaqif pretends to make more parkings available. Those parkings have been there before, the only difference is, that now you have to pay for them. So how does that help the city? I still don't understand the implemented system. Pay for your parking does not reduce the amount of cars and to let people pay for parking where no public transport is, is just another money making machine for Abu Dhabi! It doesn't help the people which already suffer everyday from closed roads, stucking in traffic, damaged roads and no parkings anywhere in the city.

    Anonymous, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

  6. Added 12:05 May 23, 2010

    The situation in Karama Is worse and residents have already started getting frustrated and paranoid. what is the point of fining when we do not have sufficient amt of space to park. There is no complex built and some of us come back late from work and hunt around the whole place alteast 20 times to look for a place to park. if we park illegally we will get a fine. i would appreciate if the authoritys hay heed in this area and see the way some of us are suffering. parking in karama is a nightmare and some thing needs to be done to solve this issue. Previously there was no paid parking system but now we are not allowed to park anywhere which means that we have to keep roaming around after work wasting our time looking for a place to park.

    Mathew Litty , Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  7. Added 11:37 May 23, 2010

    There is shortage of parking in abudhabi. why mawaqif making people suffer for parking. yes if we need to park you have to pay but after 9 PM there is no parking left where will we park?? i stay in hamdan there is no parking left after 9 PM. i work in IT and i have to go for work at night sometimes. when i come back tired after working i dont have place to park. i sleep in car sometimes..please if you need to make parking Easy please provide us more parking.

    Anonymous, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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