Mawaqif paid parking services to be introduced in new areas

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.

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.