By THO XIN YI | Jan 6, 2010
Taipan regulars opt for season passes
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Good Start: Adnan (in white shirt) having a closer look at one of the cars that failed to display the parking ticket.
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THE Subang Jaya Municipal Council’s (MPSJ) move to impose one-hour parking in USJ 10 (Taipan) has proved to be effective as more motorists are opting for season passes.
While regular visitors have complained about the new system, some have opted for the season parking passes in the private multi-storey carpark to avoid being booked by enforcement officers.
MPSJ president Datuk Adnan Md Ikshan said almost half of the empty lots in the multi-storey parking garage were taken up on Monday.
“When the shop owners and those working here start to park inside, more street parking bays can be used by visitors,” he said.
The area is notorious for traffic congestion caused by motorists who double-park, especially in front of the banks.
Under the new system, which took effect on Jan 4, motorists can only pay for an hour of parking at a time and will have to buy an additional ticket when the time is up.
MPSJ encouraged the shop owners and workers in Taipan to get monthly passes, or park in the private multi-storey carpark.
But the move drew flak from many, including Wan Saiful Rufi, who was issued a summons yesterday for his overdue parking ticket.
“It’s troublesome to keep topping up the parking charges every hour.
“As I work in shifts, I only had to spend RM40 on parking last time. Getting a monthly pass in the multi-storey carpark for RM80 is too costly, but I guess I have no choice now,” the 31-year-old manager of a coffee chain outlet said.
Chinese physician Cheang Seok Fung pointed out the inconvenience caused by the new system, citing her patient as an example.
“We have to pause a treatment session to let the patient buy another parking ticket,” she said.
Adnan said the visitors should plan their time properly and top up the parking charges whenever necessary.
On suggestions to raise the restriction to two hours, he said one hour was sufficient for people to run errands in Taipan.
The hourly rate on weekdays for the private multi-storey is RM2 for the first hour and RM1 for every subsequent hour.
Most visitors are put off by this price as the hourly rate of the street parking is only 50 sen per hour.
Systematic Corporate Parking chief operating officer Thomas Ng said the rate could not be lowered.
“Our rate is reasonable for our facilities, including security and sheltered parking,” he said.
On an unrelated matter, Adnan said 63 illegal billboards were legalised at the end of last year, bringing the total to about 200 in the municipality.
For every 10ft X 20ft billboard, the council has to pay RM3,000 and a RM5,000 deposit to the Land Office for a temporary occupational licence (TOL).
The billboard operators, on the other hand, either pay the council RM6,700, or a sum of money comprising of the TOL fee, 25% of the profit yield from the billboard and miscellaneous fees, to rent a billboard for a year.
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