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Metered parking will transform Colombo
There will be more fee-charged parking spaces within Colombo city limits if a Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) digital parking meter project is successful.
J.M. Nawaratne: It’s tough job says this traffic warden on Galle Road. Pix by Athula Devapriya
From July 1, 150 solar-powered parking meters are to be installed along Duplication Road from Galadari Roundabout towards the flyover bridge at Dehiwela and along the Galle Road from the Liberty Junction to Dharmarama Road, Wellawatte, CMC Director of Engineering Traffic Design and Road Safety, Nihal Wickramaratne, said.
Vehicles parked in all by-lanes connecting Duplication Road and Galle Road will be charged for parking under this new system.
Currently, traffic wardens are deployed at 1,600 parking slots along the two roads for a grace period of six months until meters are installed by July 1 and vehicles charged for parking – a facility that until now was enjoyed free of charge.
Per hour, a motorbike will be charged Rs. 10, three-wheelers Rs. 20, cars and vans Rs. 30, Lorries and buses Rs. 50, and school vans and school buses Rs. 600 and Rs. 1,000 per month. No reservations of parking slots will be allowed.
Mr. Wickramaratne said charging for parking in Colombo was not new and the CMC was already collecting parking fees at 2,900 of the 6,000 parking spaces in the city. The new project will mean fees will be collected at 4,500 spaces.
“The tender to set up and manage these meters was given to a private company under an open competitive tender process for a period of eight years,” Mr. Wickramaratne said.
The private company, Tenaga Car Parks, has agreed to pay 40 per cent of the earnings to the Council.
“During the six-month grace period this company will have to pay the CMC Rs. 1.5 million and taxes but after the period they are asked to pay a minimum of Rs. 3.5m per month and taxes,” Mr. Wickramaratne said. If Tenaga Car Parks collects more than Rs. 3.5m it will have to pay the CMC 40 per cent of the amount.
Mohommad Nasoodeen
To avoid public confusion about how the meter works a warden will be deployed at each meter from July 1 to help drivers. Payments can be made by coins, cash, debit and credit cards, EZ-cash and through an application that will be introduced soon.
“If this system is successful we are planning to gradually introduce it to other parts of the city in the future,” Mr. Wickramaratne said.
Tenaga Car Parks CEO Dilan Perera said the meters will be thoroughly monitored. “There will be cameras fixed at the areas where meters are fixed.
If a person fails to pay, his vehicle registration number will be detected and be charged the next time the offender uses one of the meters,” he said.
Mr. Perera believes that the system will successfully provide a solution to the city’s growing traffic congestion.
The public has mixed feelings about the project.
D.S. Dasanayake from Mount Lavinia said previously he had not able been able to find sufficient parking space for his van along the Galle Road.
“But now there are enough parking areas and we can get our work done easily. Also, paying Rs. 30 for an hour in parking fees is reasonable,” he said.
Mr. Dasanayake said he was charged up to Rs. 100 in some parts of the city for parking. “People claiming to be parking wardens collect the money,” he said.
Mohommad Nasoodeen, who owns a shop along the Galle Road, said the system has given his customers enough space for parking. “Charging for parking is not a problem for businesses,” he said adding that it was still too early to see the real effects of this system.
D.S. Dasanayake
Others claim it is unfair to charge for parking and that public movement within the city would be hindered.
Some believe charging by the hour is not reasonable. “Sometimes when you stop for a few minutes to go to the ATM you are made to pay the full amount of the parking fee.
If someone makes several stops like this he would spend at least Rs. 100 just for parking,” a distressed driver said. Sharing the same opinion, 35-year-old Gamini from Piliyandala said, “I’m a three-wheeler driver.
When I get customers [in the metered areas] I ask them to pay the parking fee before they get in. Sometimes people walk away. Three-wheeler drivers are affected badly by this system.”
Traffic wardens say their job is not easy. J.M. Nawaratne, 51, a traffic warden in Galle Road, said sometimes he is bombarded with questions.
“Some people are not willing to pay for parking,” he said. Mr. Nawaratne is also asked if he provides security for their vehicles for the fee, which is not part of traffic warden’s duties.
The head of the National Movement for Consumer Rights Protection, Ranjith Vithanage, opposes the CMC’s move to charge for parking.
He said facilities such as good toilets should be provided if drivers are made to pay and the safety of the vehicles should be ensured too.
