Smart solutions can end city’s parking nightmare

Amid all the furore unleashed due to the raising of parking fees by the City Council of Nairobi by a ridiculous sum, there is some light at last.

The council has realised it can make more money by charging motorists by the hour rather than for a whole day.

As a result, it is opting for automated parking that charges users a fee based on how long they occupy space. One wonders why it took the council so long to go this route, which is international best practice.

GANGS AND SECURITY

Only paying for the time you use a parking space can help decongest the city centre of vehicles, whose owners spend time and fuel driving around looking for short-term parking so they can transact their business and leave.

A significant chunk of those driving into the city’s central business district before 3pm do not spend a whole day in town. It therefore makes sense to charge them for only time used in the parking space.

For far too long, parking in the central business district of the city has been the preserve of criminal gangs working with some taxi operators to hold motorists at ransom.

Therefore, if the council wants to be taken seriously, Town Clerk Philip Kisia should permanently rid the city of these gangs who masquerade as unofficial "parking attendants".

The taxi operators collude with the gangs and corrupt parking attendants to block motorists from accessing parking space.

The latter often have to part with extra cash, on top of paying for a parking ticket, just to get space. Failure to do so means coming back to find your tyres punctured, mirrors stolen or vehicle broken into.

One solution to accommodate those who park their cars for an entire day is to phase out daily tickets and issue such motorists with smart cards in return for monthly payments.