Soon, you won’t need to display parking tickets on dashboards

sharjah — Smart parking meters with touchscreens that won’t require motorists to put up parking slips on their dashboards will soon be installed across Sharjah, a senior official has said. As part of the first phase of the project, 150 smart meters will be installed in Al Nahda.

Ali Ahmed Abu Ghazin, director of public parking department, Sharjah Municipality, told Khaleej

Times that by the end of 2019, all existing parking meters will be replaced with the smart ones.

The meter’s display will have instructions for motorists on how to use it. “The smart machines let motorists type their vehicle number plate and the desired duration of parking. He/she will then be prompted to select a payment method: Cash, credit cards or prepaid cards.

“Once the payment has been made, the machine prints out a receipt. However, motorists won’t need to put this up on their dashboard as it will be updated in the system. When parking inspectors run the plate number on their machines, they can see that the parking has been paid for,” said Abu Ghazin on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the new public parking department facility.

The option to pay for parking using SMS and subscription remains unchanged.

Meanwhile, the official said there are no plans to increase the parking tariff in the emirate. “However, the civic body is in the process of bringing more vital areas under paid parking zones. This is to prevent the exploitation of free parking areas,” said Abu Ghazin.

Thabit Al Turaifi, director-general of the Sharjah Municipality, said the civic body is using the latest technology to serve residents.