Now, no need to display parking tickets
RTA launches smart parking meters for issuing e-tickets that cannot be shared
Motorists using Dubai’s new smart parking meters can now save themselves the hassle of walking back to their cars to display parking tickets on the dashboard as the new meters issue e-tickets.
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) recently launched a set of new smart parking meters, as a pilot project, which if approved is likely to upgrade all meters across the city.
The new touchscreen-enabled meters have been installed at Al Jafiliya, next to the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) headquarters in Dubai, as part of the RTA’s Smart Dubai project.
In a statement to Gulf News, the RTA said: “The project is part of the vision of ‘Smart Dubai’. The RTA has introduced this pilot project and we shall announce further updates in due course of time.”
Unlike the old meters, the new meters require the users to key in the vehicle plate number along with the duration of parking, before selecting the payment method which could be made either through coins or card.
Once the payment is made, the machine issues a paper receipt and an e-ticket. The paper receipt is only for the user’s reference and need not be placed on the vehicle’s dashboard.
With vehicle details entered into the meter, the new system ensures a parking ticket is used only for one car and cannot be shared with any other vehicle.
Until now, the e-tickets were issued only when parking payment was made using mParking or RTA’s app, which also requires keying in vehicle plate number and also allows renewal digitally.
“I am not sure if this is good or bad for motorists. It saves one the hassle of walking back to the car, which is good in places where meters are a bit far, particularly in this weather. But, there is an extra step of putting in the vehicle plate number now, which kind of restricts the use of parking tickets to only one vehicle,” said Akbar Ali, a resident of Al Jafiliya.
Another motorist said that he hopes the e-tickets could be renewed through mParking or smart apps.
Since this is only a pilot project, it is not yet clear whether using smart meters for initial parking payment will allow motorists to renew parking tickets using smart platforms.
Smart parking scanners
As part of its continuous efforts in adopting smart technologies, the RTA earlier this year also launched smart parking scanners. The smart devices equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) features were launched to monitor Dubai’s paid parking zones.
Mounted on the RTA’s parking inspection vehicles, the smart scanners will help better monitor and enforce parking payment across the city.
Equipped with the new system, parking inspectors will just have to drive around the different parking zones in the city and the scanners will automatically detect vehicles with expired parking tickets. The system is expected to help reduce human error and reduce disputes involving parking fines.