Dubai: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has completed the automation and renovation of public parking machines across the city, with touch screens and issuance of e-ticket and text messages sent to mobile phones using the mParking system.
RTA said in a press statement on Tuesday that going automated in line with meeting “the needs of the Smart City initiative and Dubai Paperless Strategy.”
Ahmed Mahboub, RTA executive director of Parking, Traffic and Roads Agency, noted: “The latest revamping of parking systems in September 2022 marked the completion of the renovation of parking machines in all paid parking zones across the emirate.
“Accordingly, all parking tickets have become 100 per cent electronic. The proportion of paying parking fee via mobile phones using apps and text messages has reached 80 per cent. Payment via WhatsApp recorded about 9,000 transactions per day. The daily use of RTA Dubai App has surged from 20,000 to 45,000 transactions per day this year,” he added.
New initiatives
Mahboub said: “In 2024, a multitude of initiatives will be launched, including a smart payment system for multi-level parking buildings, automatic payments for parking buildings, and a business-specific payment system. Additionally, we plan to make parking services smart and proactive by utilising big data to visualise parking occupancy and projected rates.”
Now, paying for parking is done via smart parking machines, new payment methods, smart apps, smart inspection systems to issue paperless violations, smart scanning vehicles, smart supervisor, and the issuance of e-tickets by entering vehicle number plate on interactive and bilingual touch screens.
The process also includes linking with the nol card to save the vehicle number, integrating with the smart inspection system, and displaying the e-ticket on the smart app or the website.
Digital payment methods
Payment can be also made through the App Clip, where QR code stickers are attached to parking machines and signs. A major advantage of the application is that there will be no need to download the RTA Dubai app or register for the service.
The WhatsApp payment service was also overhauled through the Mahboub chatbot, as well as the Dubai NOW mobile app, which allows clients to pay using credit card, repurchase a previously purchased ticket, and display nearby areas on an interactive map.
The paperless violations initiative aims to eliminate printed violations and replace them by e-notifications to be sent to clients, who would be able to visit the website and see the image and location of the violating vehicle. It also enables sending the notifications of violations to non-vehicle owners.
