In a bid to help car owners tackle the increasingly difficult task of finding a place to park in the city, and presumably to reduce the appeal of owning a car in town, Abu Dhabi Municipality has introduced parking metres. But is it a big fat relief, or a big fat problem? Abu Dhabi Week hit the streets to find out ...
Ahmed Emam
Some people are going to hate this because of the extra expenses, while others will be happy about it because parking is scarce – it’s a win-lose situation. I know people who’ve moved outside of Abu Dhabi because of the parking/traffic situation. I live in Shahama so it’s not too bad for me but I’m now getting my license here and I expect I will be in and out of the city so I am a little anxious about it, but I’m sure it will only get better.
Mohammed and Maha Qadoumi
We think it will benefit everyone. Not only will it free up some parking spaces, but it will also get rid of people trying to park where they shouldn’t and scratching or damaging other people’s cars. We love Abu Dhabi and believe it has the potential to be the best city in the world, so we’re glad to see that it’s moving forward and meeting the needs of the people.
Muhanned Ali Zarrouq
I think it’s a good idea but it shouldn’t be that expensive. Maybe just AED 1 or 2 per hour, which I believe is the price for most metered zones in Dubai. Also, they didn’t implement it in every part of the city, just some. Why’s that? It’s good for traffic though. Less people are making an aisle in the middle of the parking lanes, which helps.
Nouvriet Boutros
To me, the metres are confusing. They’re hard to find and there are no signs making us aware of them. It’s great because it clears up the streets, but from a driver’s perspective, I know people who’ve gotten tickets because they didn’t know it was a metered zone. Also, we don’t always have change on hand to feed the metre. The machines aren’t very accommodating in that sense - they should accept credit cards. Although I think there’s a special card you can use, but where do we get them? They really need to make things a lot clearer.
Omar K
This is really bad. There is no parking at all to begin with. There’s no point.
Rawan Nimev
I think it’s both a bad and good idea. It’s good for places that you’ll only visit for a couple hours, but for people who live in an area where the system is enforced, like me, it currently doesn’t make sense. Yes, we can pay a yearly subscription for parking, but they don’t have any spots reserved for you after you sign up. What if I come home and all the spots are filled? I currently spend up to half an hour finding a spot. It’s not working for residents at all.
Saif Bayoumi
It’s not really that visible, so a lot of times people will park and not see the metre and then get fined. So I think there should be a sign or something that indicates where the metre is. Otherwise, it’s a good idea because it means more parking spaces; just give us some signs.
Suzette Henry-Martin
I’m finally able to get parking without much of a problem. It’s only since parking metres have arrived that parking in town has become easier, and hopefully the low fees will remain to keep it accessible to people. The only thing that was a little concerning is that in some cases you may have to walk a good way to get to the parking metre to pay – once I had to cross the street. Otherwise, I have no real problems with them.
