Rules set for Saudi eco-friendly car parks
Stress laid on facilities to reduce carbon emissions, save energy
Cairo: Saudi Arabia has said it has laid down unified standards for setting up environmentally friendly parking lots to boost safety.
The Roads General Authority (RGA) said it has determined a set of stipulations and technical specifications for these parking spaces. They include setting up efficient charging stations for electric cars with an easy access.
Such parks are also to be designed in a way that would reduce land usage and include green spaces, providing shade and improving air quality.
The facilities are, moreover, required to use environmentally friendly building materials to reduce carbon emissions, and energy-saving lighting technologies such as LED to improve visibility, RGA added.
The code associated with these parks stresses the use of technical solutions such as systems of advance reservation, smart guidance, and electronic payment to curb emissions and enhance sustainability.
The Saudi Road Code is a comprehensive technical reference for road planning, design, implementation, and maintenance nationwide. The code seeks to guide government institutions to boost road safety.
The code also aims at unifying standards of routes as RGA acts as a supervisor and regulator of the network of roads in the kingdom amid stepped-up efforts to curtail traffic accidents.
The government agency has recently reported a significant decline in accidents at junctions in the kingdom due to the introduction of solar energy-powered lighting.
It said the traffic accident rates at crossroads have dropped by 92% as a result of installing solar energy lighting at 149 such intersections across the country, a step that has enhanced traffic safety and nightly visibility by clearly defining tracks for route users.