The Municipal authority here is introducing a paid street parking system from Saturday. Once this system is under way, the irregular and often chaotic street parking in the city is expected to improve dramatically. Drivers who need to park within the paid parking zones must purchase tickets from Pay and Display meters, which are located on the sidewalks within each zone. Drivers will have to park their vehicles in the clearly marked spaces for parking or else their vehicles will be towed and will only be retrieved after a fine of SR50 and towing charges of SR100 have been paid. Hafiz Azzubair, the Eastern Province manager of the National Parking Company, told Saudi Gazette that the new paid parking system would not only improve the traffic flow, but would also improve business activities by increasing the turnover of parking spaces. He explained that the paid parking process was quite simple. “You just have to park your vehicle in the space provided, purchase the ticket for the required amount of time, clearly display the ticket on the side of the vehicle's dashboard closest to the sidewalk and return to your car before the time expires,” he said. “Parking enforcement officers who patrol the streets will issue fines to those drivers who do not display a parking ticket on the dashboard of their parked vehicle or display an expired ticket or violate any other parking regulation,” Azzubair said. “There are two types of parking meters and they have multiple paying options. You can pay by using an electronic account (e-wallet), coins or parking cards. “Fines that are not paid by drivers will accumulate, vehicles will be towed and additional payment will be required in order to have the vehicle released. “For towing, we will use two different towing vehicles. The first is the ordinary one which you usually see in the streets, but the second is a technologically advanced towing vehicle which will enable enforcement officers to tow violating vehicles from an otherwise non-movable position. This is the first time such a towing vehicle has been used in the Middle East,” Azzubair said. “Storage charges for towed vehicles are SR30 per day and impounded vehicles that are not claimed will be disposed of,” he added. Azzubair said that paid parking hours in Dammam would be from 8 A.M. to 12 P.M. and from 4 P.M. to 10 P.M. from Saturday to Thursday. There will be no charge for parking on Friday. The paid parking hours during Ramadan will be posted on the pay meter. Enforcement officers will monitor the time the vehicle is parked in the paid space and impose parking penalties if it has overstayed its time limit. Parking fees can be paid in three different ways: First by displaying a parking ticket for the required time on the dashboard of the vehicle. The second way is to use a SR100 card issued by the parking company to pay for the parking. These cards will be available in grocery shops and special outlets. The third method is by using an e-wallet account system, which can be arranged through the parking company. The municipality in cooperation with the parking company has already launched an awareness program by issuing handbooks, pamphlets and brochures that explain the paid parking process and other details, such as penalties for violation and how to use the parking meter. Currently 130 parking meters have been installed on the streets of Dammam and 25 enforcement officers have been employed to monitor the vehicle parking.
