Sharjah: To keep pace with urban and population expansion, along with the rising influx of tourists, Sharjah City Municipality (SCM) has implemented fees for 11,025 parking spaces since the beginning of this year.
This initiative is in line with the city’s urban and demographic growth, addressing the demand for parking, particularly in residential and commercial zones. Sharjah Municipality consistently assesses the needs of each area for public parking through comprehensive plans and considerations.
The overall count of public parking spaces in Sharjah City is 67,583, strategically designed to accommodate a maximum number of vehicles. These spaces are equipped with informative signs demarcating paid zones and offering essential guidance to the public.
Hamid Al Qaed, director of the Public Parking Department, said that subjecting additional parking lots to fees in the city consolidates the important role of the municipality in enhancing the cultural and aesthetic appearance of the emirate, as these parking lots limit random parking of vehicles and violations, and also make it easier for the public and residents to obtain a parking spot when visiting any area or destination in the city of Sharjah, which witnesses active commercial and tourist activity.
Al Qaed reiterated that the total number of public parking lots in the city of Sharjah has reached 67,583, equipped to accommodate the largest possible number of vehicles, and equipped with information signs indicating that the area is subject to fees. It also included important instructions and guidelines for the public, as these signs explain the type and nature of parking in each area, some of which are subject to fees on all days of the week and on official holidays, which can be identified by the blue signs.
Options for payments
Al Qaed noted that the municipality is conducting a comprehensive survey of some vital areas in preparation for subjecting the parking lots to fees, in an important step to prevent misuse of them, after the Public Parking Department prepares them according to the best standards and specifications with the aim of making them available to the public and visitors of various areas on a permanent basis. The municipality also provides devices enabling a modern and advanced payment system that uses touch technology to pay fees using coins, while providing other payment options including text messaging service, seasonal subscriptions, and the Sharjah Digital smart app. Inspections against violations
Monitoring violations
He pointed out that the inspection teams of the Public Parking Department organise continuous inspection campaigns to monitor any violations when using the service, such as parking randomly, reserving more than one parking space, parking on the sidewalk or behind vehicles, or parking in the parking lots of people with disabilities without a permit, and other violations. The municipality also works continuously publishes and broadcasts awareness messages about how to optimally use public parking, methods of paying fees, etc.
