22 July, 2009

Malls to charge for parking in Dubai

"Two malls in Dubai have revealed their plan to introduce charges for people that leave their vehicles in the car parks for more than three hours.

The parking management system that is to be introduced at the Mall of the Emirates and Deira City Centre is an attempt to put off drivers who may want to leave their cars in the mall car parks then catch the Metro to another destination.

On weekdays the first three hours are free, with four at weekends. On weekdays each extra hour will be charged at Dh20 while at weekends the additional first and second hours will be charged at Dh40 and Dh60 respectively. An additional hour of free parking is available for those watching films at the malls’ cinemas.

The new system will have a trial run from Aug 9 with the introduction of entry and exit barriers, ticket collection points and instructions."

More here: Malls confirm car parking charges (The National)

27 comments:

Stained said...

Heard about this earlier. Makes complete sense IMO.

Unknown said...

Unless they do parking validation in the mall, hells no I am going to rep that mall

unJane said...

Legitimate mall shoppers should not be penalized for lack of planning by the RTA for metro riders. Validation is a must or stores will see further loss of revenue.

Umar in Dubai said...

three to fours ought to be enough for anybody

Magnus Nystedt said...

But is three hours enough even for average shoppers? I know people who spend way longer than that in a mall, shopping, eating, movie, etc.

Stained said...

Thing is with recession, the parking lots have been quite empty, so it shouldn't be an issue for anyone to re park if they want to spend more time there....

Kirsty said...

That is crazy - big corporations and malls should be behind the drive for a greener UAE. They should encourage people ot use the Metro and offer incentives to people who "park and ride" to then come in a shop in their mall - they can totally turn it to their advantage and encourage greater public transport usage - surely they should look at it as a win-win situation...

hut said...

Sounds reasonable.
Who in their right mind would want to spend more than three hours in MoE?

i*maginate said...

I wish they'd charge an entry fee at the door instead...!

Anonymous said...
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Harsha said...

what if I was in a four hour movie? The movie tickets of which cost AED 50 already, I'd pay an additional, what is it - 20/40/60 bucks for parking? plus I'd spend on some food/refreshments.

How much is a movie going to cost me again?

fellow atheist said...

I don't see anything wrong with that. At the end of the day, the goal is to not have mall visitors suffer as a result of the metro's proximity.

the real nick,
it takes 2.5 hours to park and get to your destination at MOE.. that leaves you the rest to finish and run back..

fellow atheist said...

harsha,

What movie tickets cost 50?! Tickets are 30dhs, unless you are going to the Gold Class at Cinestar Cinemas, which would cost 100dhs (not always worth it, but it's not bad once in awhile when they show a decent movie).

rosh said...

It's reasonable. That said if, the stores & movie theaters validate parking tickets, it'd be decent.

A "4 hour" movie? Who makes / plays (and survives) a 4 hour movie?

Dubai Jazz said...

Emirates Mac,

If you're in the mall and want to shop for more than 3 hours, you can drive out and drive back in again. There's nothing against doing that.

Dubai Jazz said...

The mere fact that malls anticipate an influx of park-n-ride parasites tells you that enough car parks has not been provided for the metro stations.



Way to go RTA.

Dubai Jazz said...

Who in his/her right mind would go to the MoE on weekends?

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

An extra cost on my dates with my wife..because she does not spend enough on shopping already!

In all seriousness, this isn't fair on legitimate mall shoppers.

Anonymous said...

Dubai Jazz,

Have you ever been involved with the member of the opposite sex?

If you have then you will understand why that much time is not enough.

Dubai Jazz said...

ABIT,

I too watch movies in the MOE on Fridays. But I try my best to flee the place before 4 PM. It becomes too crowded for my taste.

Anonymous said...

hey watch movies at Grand Cineplex. loads of parking except on weekends of course after 6 pm.
then go shopping to MOE. anyone who can shop beyond two hours in a recession needs to have their head examined.
anyway. with dropping sales at malls, this will be retail harakiri

Anonymous said...
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hemlock said...

Abit: the servings at festival city suck... there's no chocolate in the chocolate crepes - and the nachos are only half full.

ibn e batuta sells the best movie experience.

Vincent Fong said...

Well, I suppose its about time. When I first arrive here, I was getting use to the idea of free parking in establishement like malls and cinema, panicking for a while everytime I get into a car and realised that I havent paid my parking yet, just to remind myself its free here! (where i come from, almost nothing is free...)

I guess I'd go with the idea of validation or reduction of parking fee for a minumum purchase in the mall for genuine shoppers, there's no worries for extra time spent at the mall. I spend at least 4-5 hours with my wife, watching cinema, shopping for grocery etc on a weekend.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Those mall are huge and empty for what are they charging parking fees!!!!!!!!!!!!

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