Thursday 8 February 2018

Get To Know About Public Parking in Abu Dhabi

There is a saying that said, A good city is the one with good transportation access. Looking for a parking space costs time and can be very stressful. Easy and accessible parking contributes considerably to a better quality of life for people living and working in a big city. For that reason in Abu Dhabi, a capital of United Arab Emirates, The Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport (DMAT) launched a MAWAQIF programme in 2009. MAWAQIF is a paid parking system which one of the inter-relation programme with other transportation service in Abu Dhabi.



Mawaqif provides a sustainable parking management solution and was designed as a multi-phased programme. In order to address the growing demand for parking and to prevent the misuse of limited parking spaces, a paid parking system has been developed. For the initial phase, paid parking was implemented in the most densely trafficked commercial areas around Khalifa Street and Hamdan Street, Eastern Ring Road, Bani Yas Street. On January 30 2010, MAWAQiF began implementing paid parking in the area between Hamdan Street, Sheikh Zayed the First Street, Airport Road and Baniyas Road, with a total of 3,725 parking bays. Here is the map of the parking zone:


Know The Classification and The Penalty

The parking areas are classified into two categories, premium and standard parkings, Standard and Premium Parking with different maximum stay hours. For standard parking you get maximum stay of 24 hours with the fee of 2AED/hour and 15AED/day. For premium parking, you get to pay 3AED per hour of maximum stay of 4 hours. The standard parking areas can be identified by the turquoise and black kerbstones, and the premium parking areas by the turquoise and white kerbstones. The parking fees are applicable from 8:00 AM to 12:00 AM from Saturday to Thursday. Parking is free on Fridays and on public holidays and for people with special needs. Additionally, parking bays in vicinity of a mosque are free for 45 minutes starting from the call for prayer (Adhan).

We all knew as the classic problem of how well a system can be applied is in line with how effective the penalty works if one not follow the system rule. Therefore, illegally vehicles will be fined. Penalty charges range from AED 100 to AED 1,000 depending on the severity of the violation. Should a violation notification be ignored, Mawaqif will remove vehicles within 24-48 hours. If vehicles block designated escape routes, spaces reserved for people with special needs, vehicles of the fire department and ambulances, they will be towed away immediately. A detailed list of the penalties can be found on Mawaqif website.

Park and Ride
Another element of Mawaqif programme is the launch of "Park and Ride" services throughout the city of Abu Dhabi. The first "Park and Ride" service was introduced in Al Bateen area. Free shuttle buses operate from 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM from Sunday to Thursday to transport commuters from the free parking area to nearby buildings. The "Park and Ride" service not only ensures the availability of free parking spaces in congested areas, but also contributes to Abu Dhabi’s efforts towards environmental protection and sustainability.


Payment Method Variation

Payment can be made at the parking meter using MAWAQiF Prepaid Card or coins. There will be two separate tariff meters for Premium Parking and Standard Parking. Please make sure to pay the correct fees to avoid fines. Prepaid Cards provide two kinds, which are 50 dhs and 100 dhs. Another way is pay with coins which divide into three amounts, 0.25 dhs, 0.50 dhs and 1.00 dhs. Prepaid cards are available at all of the MAWAQiF Customer Service Centers. For the working hours of the centers. Another prepaid card information, if you want to purchase large quantities of prepaid cards, you can because prepaid cards are not sold in bulks. You can purchase any quantity of these cards at the one time, at standard rates. Just noted that at this stage, it is not possible to recharge prepaid cards, this service may be available in the future.



About Residential Permit

The resident permits are available for the owners or the tenants and their affiliates of first degree relationship such as mother, father, wife and kids, with a maximum of 2 permits, which is sector and vehicle specific. The permit will give the right for the vehicle owner to park in the paid parking area in the same sector he/she lives in without paying any more fees by displaying the permit clearly on the vehicle dashboard.


Annual fees for the resident permits are 800 dhs for the first vehicle, 1200 dhs for the second vehicle. Verification and processing of resident permits, take a minimum of three working days. Residents can obtain their permits from the Mawaqif Customer Service Centres. Thus, there will be a paperwork to do if you want to apply for this residential permit service. The papers required to obtain a resident permit are passport copy with valid residency visa, lease of contract, or residency ownership proof, last electric bill, vehicle ownership and relationship proof for the vehicle owner if different from the tenancy contract.

However, having a resident permit, does not mean that you can reserve a parking bay specifically for your use at all times. The main purpose of parking permits is to allow you to park in any available parking bay, in the standard parking areas, without having to pay hourly or daily tariffs at the parking meters.

For you who didn’t have a residential permit you can follow the general rule of pay with prepaid card or coins with a choose between standard and premium parking classification.

Parking Violation!

All illegally parked vehicles will be fined as per the Abu Dhabi parking law. Penalty charges range from AED 100 to AED 1000 depending on the severity of the violation. A detailed list of the penalties can be found on the following link or at the MAWAQiF Customer Service Center. Payment of parking violation tickets are made at the MAWAQiF Customer Service Center. If you pay within 15 days, you will get a 25% discount on the total fine amount. But we always wish you will never have to face such problem. But you really have to learn briefly about the all important service and methods to avoid unawareness of the action that you made relating to parking activities. Head over to their costumer service page or just give them a call to ask about all details. They are conveniently located close to the paid parking areas. Four region center of customer service provide all necessary information on Mawaqif parking services. At these Centres, customers can buy prepaid parking cards and apply for residential permits. You can call the Mawaqif Call Center 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 800-3009.

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