Abu Dhabi's Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport (DMAT) has merged some parking sectors in the capital as part of its efforts to upgrade the transportation infrastructure and solve the issue of parking space shortage, according to a report.

The move by the Integrated Transport Centre of the DMAT is aimed at providing the community with innovative solutions to overcome parking issues and maintain safety on the roads, said state news agency Wam.

Under the new plan, sectors E16-1 and E16-2 have beeen merged together, while Sectors E18-1 E18-2 and E18-3 were merged into E18.

Sector E19 has been merged with W14-2, Sector W12 with W10, and Sector E1 with E2, stated the report.

These merges will allow holders of any permit for these sectors to use any of the available parking spaces within those merged blocks, sadi the report citing a senior official.

"Sector W7-1 permit holders can use spaces in W7-2, but not the other way round. Permit holders of sector E9-2 are allowed to use parking spaces in E7 and E9-1 but not the other way round. Permit holders for sector E20-2 are allowed to use parking spaces in W15-2, but not the other way round," remarked Mohammed Hamad Al Muhairi, the director of Mawaqif.

A division of the DMAT, Mawaqif is responsible for management and regulation of parking services in Abu Dhabi.

"As a result of the merges, permits holders will now be able to park their vehicles in some other sectors,"  stated Al Muhairi.

Cautioning the drivers against parking on yellow and grey markings and in the middle of the road, the top official said violators will face action for double-parking, parking in drop-off and pick-up points, on or near pedestrian crossings, access points and fire hydrants.  

The merging of the parking sectors is part of Mawaqif’s strategy to come up with sustainable solutions to parking space shortages by increasing their number, stated Al Muhairi.

"Adding more parking spaces will help the public to find parking spaces and prevent random parking that causes a hindrance to traffic," he added.