Cape Town - The city is to implement a new parking policy costing at least R15 million and launch a free mobile app where motorists can track available parking bays.

On Thursday the council approved a new parking policy designed to deal with the problem of parking demands and constraints.

While motorists are already paying as much as R11 an hour to park in the city centre, they will be forking out more when the new parking tariffs are introduced in July.

The new policy adopted on Thursday will also see the return of towing vehicles to tow away cars parked for too long or parked in loading bays.

Mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron said the parking policy was drawn up to deal with transport and spatial trends.

CONTENTIOUS ISSUES

“The demand, availability and management of parking have become increasingly complex and, at times, contentious issues for residents, commuters, visitors and businesses,” Herron said.

He said there had been growth in the use of private vehicles and motorcycles, increased traffic congestion during peak times, an increase in the number of delivery vehicles and urban sprawl.

Herron said some of the problems with on-street parking included motorists ignoring time limits, non-payment of parking fees and a high demand resulting in a spillover into areas adjacent to managed parking areas.

According to the policy, parking supply and demand must be managed in terms of location, duration and allocation.

The policy states that areas with a high demand will have a higher tariff than areas with low demand to encourage more people to park on the outskirts of the city centre.

People who park where more bays are available on the outskirts of the CBD will pay a cheaper tariff.

The city is also investigating electronic parking payment by introducing Europay, MasterCard and Visa smart cards.

The new payment method could work like the MyCiTi myconnect card where motorists will tap in and pay for the hours they park.

The city is also set to launch a free smartphone app which motorists and commuters can use to check where there are parking bays available, and check on public transport schedules and traffic problems.

Cape Times