Manila installs parking meters

MANILA, Philippines - The Manila city government has forged a contract with a private company to install the first parking meters in the country.

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim said the city government entered into a public-private partnership (PPP) deal with the private firm Manila Parking Management (Mapma) to install the initial 340 parking meters for the On Street Parking project in Binondo.

So far, about 200 units imported from China have been installed.

The pilot site for the On Street Parking will cover Escolta and Ongpin streets.

Lim said one of the traffic problems in Binondo is double parking which causes traffic jams.

Under the On Street Parking system, only one lane of the street will be allocated for parking.

“Double parking will no longer be allowed,” he said.

To use the parking meters, a motorist must go to parking attendant and buy a smart card that will be loaded with a minimum amount of P20. This allows the motorist to park for two hours.

Lim said the low rates would accommodate motorists parking for only 30 minutes.

If the vehicle owner goes beyond the two hours, he would be charged an additional P10 for every hour. 

Lim said the city government would get 30 percent of the earnings from the parking meters. 

He said the project would benefit the motorists and reduce traffic congestion in Binondo.

Freddie Fremista, Mapma business development officer, said the installation of the parking meters would help augment the shortage of traffic enforcers and city hall parking attendants.

Fremista advised motorists, who would be using the parking meters, to follow the instructions when they park in and  park out because if they fail to park out, the system would continue to deduct from their smart card until they run out of load.

He added that they would also be intensifying the security in the area to ensure that the parking meters would not be vandalized or stolen.

The firm would also install closed-circuit television cameras in strategic areas.