New Regime for Public Parking approved, DSAT wants motorcyclists to pay

The new Regime for Public Parking bill passed its final reading on Wednesday evening at the Legislative Assembly (AL) plenary session with all votes in favor. A few Articles with which lawmakers did not agree did not pass.

In one of those cases, lawmaker Ron Lam requested separate voting on Article 1. He considered there to be a lack of response from the government in addressing issues related to the differences between private and public car parks. The lawmaker claims that while the procedures and management style are similar, the rights of the drivers as well as pedestrians are different between public and private car parks, a situation with which he disagrees. He called on the government to make the rules uniform.

Otherwise, the bill was passed unanimously and will come into force from August 1 this year. One of the most important changes in the bill is related to the enforcement of only electronic payment of street parking meters that will stop accepting coins, and this will come into force as early as May 1.

The measures assist the management of the companies that have the concession of the parking meters, which will now require less staff to handle the coin collection as well as other tasks related to the handling and bank deposit of the coins.

At the AL, the director of the Transport Bureau (DSAT) Kevin Lam also said that it is commonly understood between the government and the companies that manage the different car parks and street parking areas that motorcyclists often fail to pay for parking and are reluctant to park in the parking lots, instead preferring to leave their motorcycles on the streets often illegally.

Lam said DSAT is monitoring the situation and is coordinating with the authorities. The same official also noted that the price of parking meters for motorcycles has not been adjusted for over 30 years, claiming there is no reason why riders cannot park appropriately.