Parking In KL Will Be Three Times More Expensive From Now On
A steep hike in parking rates.
By Tang Ruxyn — 18 Jul 2016, 03:09 PM
It is a bad news day for motorists in KL as the hourly parking rate in several hotspots in the city has been revised with a 150% increase, effective today
The Star Online reported that Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has revised the parking charges for its parking bays within the city’s central business district (CBD), starting from today, 18 July. DBKL owns a total of 46,100 metered parking bays in the city, and 9,914 (22% are located at the CBD area).
The following areas are reportedly affected by the new rates: Bukit Bintang, Bukit Damansara, Sri Hartamas, Desa Hartamas, Solaris Mont Kiara, Taman Tun Dr Ismail and Bangsar. The hourly parking charges in the CBD has been increased from RM0.80 to RM2 for the first hour under the new rate structure. Additionally, the second-hour rate has also been raised to RM3, and it will also cost RM3 for every subsequent hour after that.Besides the CBD, other areas in the city will also gradually see an increase in parking charges
An infographic by Norman Goh of Malaysiakini about the areas affected by the new parking rates.
Image via Norman Goh/MalaysiakiniMotorists outside the city will not be spared as they will soon feel the pinch of the higher rates (between 100% and 200% depending on the zones).
According to media reports, the new parking charges will be enforced in stages from today till the 1st of August.Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz has stressed that the decision was made to ease traffic congestion in the city
He said that the move was to encourage people to carpool, and that it was not profit-driven.
To support his claims, Amin Nordin cited statistics obtained from the Road Transport Department (JPJ) and the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), saying that 70% of cars coming into the city centre are single-occupant vehicles (SOV) and there are about 50,000 new cars registered in Kuala Lumpur every month. "I know I am going to be very unpopular, but it has to be done because traffic in Kuala Lumpur is already bursting at the seams," he was quoted as saying by The Star Online. He added that the increase of vehicles has contributed to traffic congestion in the city, but to rub salt in a wound, the traffic situation is aggravated when some drivers double- and triple-park on the roads and endanger pedestrians due to the lack of parking.Earlier this month, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor announced that DBKL will impose a two-hour limit for the public to park around the central business district (CBD) areas
The time limit is a system whereby DBKL will impose a maximum parking cap of two hours in selected areas, where those who surpass the two-hour limit will find their cars clamped or towed.
It was announced that the time limit would be effective starting 16 July, according to media reports on 2 July.
However, according to The Star's latest report, DBKL will delay the implementation as the KL mayor wanted to give city folk a chance get used to the new parking charges.