STARTING Thursday, January 2, the City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) already enforced its collection of parking fees in some streets of Davao City.
CTTMO in October last year announced the effectivity of the Public Pay Parking Zones in the streets of San Pedro, Ilustre, Pelayo, Iñigo, Villa Abrille, Monteverde, and Duterte.
CTTMO head Dionisio Abude said the parking zone is in pursuant to the City Ordinance No. 052-13, Series of 2013, an amendment to Ordinance No. 153-A, Series of 1990, entitled “An Ordinance imposing Parking Fees on all vehicle owners/drivers for using certain streets in Davao City as Parking Spaces and for other purposes” and the Comprehensive Transport and Traffic Code of Davao City (C.O. No. 0334-12, Series of 2012).
Parking rates for trucks and buses will be P100 for the first two hours and P20 for succeeding hours; P20 for light vehicles for the first two hours and P10 for succeeding hours; motorcycles will be P5 parking fee for first two hours and P1 for succeeding hours; and P2 for bicycles during the first two hours and P1 for the succeeding hours.
Pay parking will start at 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., from Monday to Saturday in the identified areas for the initial phase.
Abude said despite the early announcement for its implementation his office is anticipating complaints from vehicle owners.
“We already anticipated that not all drivers are aware of our parking fee (implementation),” he told SunStar Davao Thursday.
He added that 80 personnel assigned in the parking zones were already briefed on what to do in case motorists insist on not paying the parking fee.
“I already instructed them to list the description of the vehicle. Also get the complete details of the vehicle owner, including his driver’s license, and our office will personally explain it to them,” the traffic office head said.
He also urged the vehicle owners not to air their complaints to the enforcers as they are only implementing the policy.
Abude said the parking fee zones will not only generate revenue for the city but will also organize and utilize the city’s road capacity.
“The city has a high parking demand, but we only have limited parking space,” he said.
He added that these enforcers will also serve in monitoring the security of the area, as they were earlier trained to instill the “culture of security”.
Meanwhile, Abude said he cannot exactly project the expected income from the parking fees, but he assured that it will exceed more than P1 million monthly.
He also reminded motorists that only personnel from the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) will be authorized to collect parking fees as a way to avoid corruption, adding that CTO personnel will be deployed together with some CTTMO personnel.