End of free parking in Dubai's Tecom area

Published Monday, April 15, 2013

By Majorie van Leijen

Free parking is something of the past in Tecom localities Knowledge Village, Media City, and Internet City.

Yesterday, the anticipated parking permit scheme was implemented. From now on, employees may only park in the parking zones allocated to them, provided they are able to present a parking permit.

There were those who were fully prepared and equipped with the required parking permits. But this was not a given for everyone. Whereas some people made a last-minute attempt to obtain a parking permit from Tecom Investments, others were seen stubbornly parking in the blocked areas. Overall, confusion prevailed.

Emirates 24|7 has gathered the most essential information that one may need when visiting, being an employee, or being a student in one of the three Tecom areas.

Parking permits are allocated to companies located in Tecom by Tecom Investments. The distribution of these permits is quota-based; the number of permits issued depends on the leased floor space.

“Parking cards for the three areas of Dubai Media City, Dubai Internet City and Dubai Knowledge Village can only be issued to companies and they receive a quota of cards based on their leased floor space. Once they have applied for and received their quota of parking cards, it is up to the companies to decide how to distribute cards amongst their employees,” comments Tecom Investments.

In some cases, the allocated parking permits are distributed for free, but when the number of allocated permits is exceeded, the company must pay for the cards.

Individuals are not able to buy the parking permits from Tecom Investments. Parking permits must be distributed to the employees by their respective employers. If one is not eligible for a parking permit, there will be no option to park in the permit zones.

Metered off-road parking is an option for those who have not been able to obtain a parking permit. “Off street metered parking are areas not right by the roadside but are designated for metered parking. All of the areas are clearly highlighted by signage so people know where they can and cannot park. The RTA will be managing these areas,” explains Tecom Investments.

There are some exceptions to the rule. “Some investor buildings in the DMC (Dubai Media City), DIC (Dubai Internet City) and DKV (Dubai Knowledge Village) areas, which are not owned by Tecom, have their own parking systems in place,” explained Tecom Investments.

Furthermore, parking is free on weekends and after 6pm on weekdays, it added.

The parking permits and off-street parking are only one of the phases of a larger project aiming to deal with the increasing traffic congestion in the areas, said Badr Al Gargawi, CEO of Engineering at Tecom Investments.

The last phase of implementation of the new parking management system will be in July, which will cover the basement parking in Tecom areas.

April 13 was the launch date of the implementation of parking permits, but companies can apply at any time, considering the validity dates of the permits that are issued.

(With additional inputs from Bindu Suresh Rai)

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