City agency plans hike in parking fees

JAKARTA (JP): The parking fees in some city areas will increase by between 100 and 500 percent, if a City Parking Agency proposal goes ahead.

The City Parking Agency announced details of the plan yesterday.

In areas that charge progressive fees, the first hour will rise from Rp 1,000 (US$0.40) to Rp 5,000 in some locations.

If the plan is approved, fees for parking in the streets or spaces managed by the city will rise by 100 percent.

Fees for parking cars increased from Rp 500 to Rp 1,000, trucks from Rp 1,000 to Rp 2,000, and motorcycles from Rp 100 to Rp 200.

City Secretary Harun Al Rasyid said the plan was not final and the agency was still open to suggestions from the public and the City Council.

He said the plan was intended to solve traffic problems in the city, and the increased parking revenue would pay for the building of new car parks.

"The main purpose is to curb the use of private cars in the city," Harun said yesterday.

The city parking agency plan requires all commercial buildings to provide parking areas or spaces as determined by the governor. If owners of commercial buildings could not provide space, they should arrange space in other buildings.

Companies not providing the spaces required should pay the administration a fee as set by the governor in consultation with the City Council. This fee would be used to build parking spaces.

City parking providers would be given the right to participate in managing the spaces.

In the plan, transferring the management of parking spaces to other people or companies is not allowed without written approval from the governor.

Commercial buildings, which provide parking spaces, should have permits from the governor.

The plan ruled all parking space managements should pay fees ranged from Rp 50,000 to Rp 200,000 based on the number of available spaces, and 25 percent of parking fees as determined by the governor.

Harun said some places determined by the governor, such as historical buildings, were not obliged to provide parking spaces.

He admitted the agency could not guarantee there would be no leak in fees collection.

He said as soon as the proposal was approved the agency would need to improve its performance, such as by imposing stricter control on fees collection.

The City Parking Agency has been under fire for several years for its inability to reach its revenue collection target.

In the 1995/96 fiscal year, the agency collected Rp 11 billion, Rp 5 billion less than expected. In 1994/95, it collected Rp 11.5 billion, Rp 3.1 billion less than expected.

Councilor Helmy AR Syihab estimated earlier that parking agencies could collect Rp 43 billion per year from only 400,000 cars parked once a day, with fees of Rp 300 each.

A widely recognized problem in parking fees collection is the reluctance of parking attendants to hand over receipts in return for fees from motorists.

Jakarta's population of more than nine million people owned 2,165,200 vehicles. (ste)