Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has finished work on 70 free parking spaces for environmentally-friendly vehicles. The spaces are spread across 40 paid parking zones across the city, under its ‘Dubai Green Mobility’ initiative.
The move is part of phase one of a larger scheme to offer free parking exclusively to eco-friendly vehicles in the city.
Maitha bin Adai, chief executive of the RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency said, “The RTA is keen on spreading this initiative to high-density traffic areas and streets across Dubai with the aim of covering most paid parking zones in vital areas. Locations include the Central Business Districts, Trade Centre area, Burj Khalifa, Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Street and Sheikh Zayed Road.”
Earlier, authorities announced several incentives for electric car owners, including exemption from RTA registration and renewal fees, free Salik tag and free charging at 100 stations across Dubai.
“The parking spaces are marked by green-painted frames with signs showing the maximum allowable use time, and the fine applicable on parking violations. Only eco-friendly vehicles are allowed to access these parking slots, and for a time limit of four hours, which will increase the rotation of using each parking,” she added.
The RTA first introduced its plans for eco-friendly vehicle parking in 2017 and earlier this month it told Khaleej Times that it was looking to expand the total number of car park spaces from 166,000 depending on community needs. There are over 1.5 million vehicles in the emirate with 540 vehicles per 1,000 people. An additional 450,000 vehicles travel into Dubai daily.