Sharjah extends paid parking hours from July 1 until midnight.
The new law standardizes the timing of all paid parking areas and specifically increases the hours for areas with yellow signs to align with areas with blue signs.
The Sharjah Municipality announced that the working hours of public parking services across the emirate have been increased. Starting from July 1, all paid parking areas in the city of Sharjah, Kalba, Khor Fakkan, and Al Dhaid will be subject to charges until midnight.
The new law aims to unify the scheduling of all paid parking areas and increases the hours for areas with yellow signs to align with areas with blue signs. Previously, yellow areas had shorter payment hours.
Despite this change, public parking will still be free on Fridays and public holidays, according to the current system; except in certain specific areas that are subject to charges 7 days a week even on holidays.
Hamed Al Qaed, the director of the public parking department at Sharjah Municipality, said this change is in response to the increased demand for parking services across the emirate.
He stated, "This decision is aligned with the urban, population, and tourism growth of the emirate's cities."
He added that this action was taken after a comprehensive study on parking usage, demand rates, and area distribution, as well as based on comparisons with standards and feedback from residents and visitors.
Given the economic and commercial growth of the emirate, extending public parking operations until midnight has become essential to provide better access for customers, reduce misuse, and manage related challenges.
Al Qaed noted that holders of seasonal subscriptions and customers of restaurants and cafes often face difficulties finding parking after 10 PM. The new system is designed to improve services and increase efficiency.
This change aims to optimize the use of public parking, reduce illegal parking, and increase vehicle turnover; especially in vital and commercial areas. This action helps improve services in residential and commercial areas and strengthens Sharjah's position as an attractive tourist destination and place to live.
There are approximately 124,000 paid parking spaces in the emirate. According to the new regulations, charges will apply from 8 AM to midnight. The mechanism and method of calculating the costs of these parking spaces differ from smart parking in various locations, especially tourist areas.
Al Qaed confirmed that the increase in working hours will not raise the cost of seasonal subscriptions, and these costs will remain unchanged. In fact, subscribers will benefit from two additional hours of daily exemption, increasing this time from 14 hours to 16 hours.
The Sharjah Municipality has urged the public to adhere to the specified parking hours and pay the fees through available methods including SMS and the Digital Sharjah app. Users can also take advantage of the seasonal subscriptions offered by the municipality, which are issued quickly and easily.
Source: Gulf Times