City Hall seeks to introduce hourly parking rates » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 1- The Nairobi County has proposed to have parking in the city charged on an hourly basis as opposed to the daily parking rate that have been in place.

City Hall argues the current structure which bills parking at a flat rate per day promotes long term parking, and makes short term parking expensive compared to hourly fees in other countries.

In the draft parking policy, the county proposes to charge Sh90 per hour for on street parking  in the most attractive areas within CBD around south of Kenyatta Avenue and west of Moi avenue.

The City Hall proposes a Sh100 hourly rate for off street parking within the CBD.

All other on street places in the CBD will attract a fee of Sh75 per hour.

All other areas and hubs parking fee will be pegged at Sh50 and Sh40 respectively, hourly.

The draft parking policy seeks to phase out season tickets from Nairobi Central Business District and offer season tickets outside these areas at Sh6,000 per month.

The county explains that these are part of measures to streamline parking as well as maximize revenue collection from the sector.

The county intends to regulate parking between 8am and 8pm in CBD and areas around shopping centres, and between 8am to 6pm in other regulated areas.

It also proposes that 2 per cent of all parking spaces be earmarked to promote the mobility impaired and establish charging points for electric vehicles at certain parking bays.

On enforcement, the county said it will improve its legal framework and technology so that an enforcement officer can identify vehicles that haven’t paid fees or those packed in undesignated areas.

“These vehicles will get a notice that an offense was identified for the vehicle and that the owner is summoned to pay a fine by App. When the fine is not paid within certain time limit, wheel clamping the car and the next time it is identified on a legal parking space,” it states.

Apart from managing parking in CBD and its environs, the county also seeks to regulate parking in residential areas by “providing parking for residents at a low price through residents’ permits, and allow residents outside CBD and mixed areas to purchase season tickets.”

The move to charge parking in residential areas has however been opposed by Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja, who termed it exploitative.