No such thing as free parking

I RECENTLY reported on Kepong and Segambut residents who are objecting to the implementation of parking fees by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) in their respective areas.

Frankly, I was surprised by this because I generally expect to pay to park in lots managed either by local councils or private entities.

However, these folks argue that since they either live or work in industrial or commercial areas, they require long-term parking and should therefore be exempt from fees.

There are 589 residential units in the commercial area.

Last June, DBKL rolled out a discounted parking pass for Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park following an outcry over frequent summonses being issued to residents.

Businesses and residents in Kepong Entrepreneurs Park are objecting to parking fees being imposed in the area. — Filepic

At RM70, the pass offers a 50% discount on the original RM140 pass designated for suburban areas with commercial activity.

I had expected this to set a precedent for residents in other areas to demand a similar arrangement.

However, the people I interviewed for my report “Shifting gear on parking fee fuels frustration” (StarMetro, Feb 10) were mostly against the pass.

When I asked when DBKL started collecting parking fees in their areas, these residents replied, “the day it started issuing parking summonses”.

This made me wonder if DBKL’s enforcement in the area had been so poor that residents had simply assumed parking was free all this while.

Complaints about parking fees here only began cropping up at the end of 2024, following DBKL’s move to appoint four companies to manage the city’s 59,000 parking bays.

However, the lack of enforcement action meant many continued to park without paying, until last June.

Now that DBKL has introduced the discounted monthly pass for Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park, has it proved to be a good solution? Not really.

As of January, DBKL says there has been only 93 applications for the passes.

Some monthly pass purchasers complain that they are being deprived of street parking as the bays are being illegally hogged by others, especially nearby MRT users and businesses in the area.

Many businesses place barriers or cones on parking bays to “reserve” them – and don’t pay anything at all.

The only way to combat this is for City Halll to beef up enforcement. However, this is easier said than done as DBKL does not have enough staff to seamlessly carry out operations across the whole city throughout the day.

And there can also never be enough parking bays to accommodate the needs of all, which is why better public transport connectivity is needed to reduce reliance on private vehicles.

It’s time residents and businesses in commercial areas stop expecting a free ride. And motorists need to be more responsible and civic-minded when it comes to parking.