DBKK urged to use smart parking system

Chin

KOTA KINABALU (Sept 14): Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) chief publicity officer Simon Chin has urged the Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) to keep up with the latest technological advancement by utilizing a smart parking system to replace the existing problematic parking coupon system.

He pointed out that many city folks have complained about difficulties in estimating their parking duration under the current system, more so after DBKK has revised their penalty for overtime parking.

If motorists underestimate their parking duration, they will have to pay a mandatory RM10 fine, instead of offsetting their unpaid parking time with coupons like before.

Such penalty is utterly inefficient, unfair and impractical.

Chin said people are returning to shops, government agencies and banks since the Movement Control Order (MCO) was lifted, making it harder for motorists to forecast their parking duration because of the long queue.

If motorists scratched one hour worth of parking coupons, but waited in line for three hours for their turn to handle their affairs, they would certainly be issued a compound.

But if they have scratched three hours worth of coupons, but managed to get their things done in an hour, they would have wasted two hours of coupons.

This is unfair to motorists, especially during in this economic slowdown.

Hence, Chin suggested to DBKK to adopt a smart parking system so that motorists no longer need to worry about being fined for overtime parking.

He said using a smart parking system will also simplify enforcement, while also being environmentally friendly by eliminating the use of paper.

In this technological era, people care about the environment and demand convenience, he said.

As the state capital of Sabah, DBKK should strive to adopt new technology to improve its existing parking system.

He said a smart parking system will not only make it more convenient for motorists to pay their fees, but also allow them to reload their parking fee or check their parking duration online, without the hassle of having to return to their vehicles to extend their time in the middle of queueing in line in banks or clinics.

This is way more environmentally friendly and cost-effective in the long run.

Chin said many states and cities in Malaysia have adopted similar parking system, and thus DBKK should jump on the bandwagon by adopting a smart parking system for Sabah to catch up with development and progress.