Q.C. Pay Parking Ordinance; Are You In Favor?

[gertrude]

eto pa po isa, may backer pla c konsehal please read.

[SIZE=4]QC parking fee plan has mayor’s backing–exec[/SIZE]


By Leila Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:19:00 07/26/2009

Filed Under: Transport, Road Transport


MANILA, Philippines – The proposed Quezon City ordinance to charge fees for parking on certain city streets has the backing of Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, according to councilor Jesus “Bong” Suntay.
Suntay, the measure’s proponent, said Belmonte had sent him a text message saying he was in favor of the ordinance.
“He sees the need to regulate [parking],” Suntay told reporters at the Kapihan sa Sulo forum.
Open to revisions
Suntay also said city officials were still open to revising the ordinance to incorporate what the people want. But he added that it was vital to implement the parking fee scheme in order to ease traffic flow around certain “chokepoints” in commercial areas, and to ease the burden of residents whose own driveways are being blocked by cars parked with abandon.
The measure, which would impose parking fees ranging from P20 to P150 on roads near “places of special interest,” has earned the ire of a group of businessmen, community leaders, transport groups and Church leaders, who complained that it would add to their many burdens.
Speaking in the same forum, Edwin Rodriguez of the Koalisyon Laban sa Parking sa Quezon City said the ordinance was unnecessary since the local government was already rich, and it would kill businesses because customers might stay away due to the parking fees.
Adverse effect
He added it would also adversely affect people who are burdened with rising gas prices and maintenance and repair costs. “The parking fees would not deter car thieves either,” he said.
Rodriguez also said the Quezon City Parking Authority to be created under the ordinance would also have too much power, and could even get the services of an outside contractor for a management fee of 20 percent.
“This is a potential area of graft,” he warned.
But Suntay said allegations about outsourcing the tasks of the proposed Parking Authority were just misinformation.
“That is the farthest thing from the mind of the Quezon City council. The one that will manage it is the Quezon City Street Parking Authority. It will not be outsourced,” he said.

[gertrude]

Tungkol sa parking, mas gugustuhin ko pang higpitan ng QC city engineer's office ang pagpapatupad ng minimum required na parking space para sa mga nagtatayo ng isang place of business. Para kapag may nagtayo ng business ay mapipilitan silang mag-allot ng resonableng dami ng parking spaces para sa customers nila (di na rin tayo mahihirapan). Kung hindi man ay dapat pag-aralan ng QC govt kung kailangan ng itaas ang minimum number ng parking space required per place of business.

Isa pang option ng QC govt ay bumili sila ng mga lote na malalapit o nasa mga lugar na problema ang parking (nakakaharang sa mga kalsada) at magtayo ng mga car park buildings kung seryoso sila na bigyan ng solusyon ang parking problem sa QC. Tutal, niyayabang naman nila na marami silang pera e. Kaysa ibili nila ng mga mamahaling sasakyan ang mga baranggay (naka- high end na Isuzu Crosswind nga ang baranggay captain namin e) ay puwedeng dun na lang nila dalhin ang pera na kinikita ng QC govt para mapakinabangan naman ng mga legitimate QC taxpayers.

i agree with that parking bldg., in fact i have a news clip thru inquirer.net please read;
[SIZE=4]Construct parking buildings first[/SIZE]
Neal Cruz
Philippine Daily Inquirer

July 27, 2009


Quezon City is in an uproar over the pay parking scheme proposed to the City Council by Councilor Bong Suntay. Suntay says pay parking would put order in the streets and ease traffic congestion that bedevils most “places of interest.” (Place of interest is defined as any place where people congregate, such as shopping malls, restaurant rows, churches, schools, etc.) Under the proposal, parking attendants would collect fees of P20 to P120 for parking for the first three hours. Businessmen and the general public oppose it because, business groups say, potential customers would refrain from going to these “places of interest” if they have to pay parking fees and because, the public says, it would mean additional expense to them.
As I see it, the alleged purpose—easing traffic congestion—is good but the means of achieving it—pay parking—is bad.
Even if you impose pay parking on all the streets of Quezon City, it would not restore traffic order and ease vehicle congestion.
The only thing it would do is to make the city government (and its parking contractors) very rich and therefore give the councilors more money to spend on such harebrained ideas as concrete half-arches with the names of councilors carved in stone at the entrance and exit of every barangay (village), waiting sheds with the names of councilors prominently painted on the roofs, basketball courts in the middle of streets, and billboards and posters for every occasion (INC anniversary, Bishop Eraño Manalo’s birthday, graduation, school opening, vacation time, barangay fiesta, Valentine’s Day and any other excuse to display the names of councilors). The streets would remain congested because it would not remove parked vehicles from the streets. On the contrary, it would induce the city government to allow parking on previously no-parking streets because that would mean more income for the city administration and its private contractors.
The way to put order in city streets is to prohibit parking on the streets and sidewalks in front of business establishments. In the United States and in a few business enclaves in Makati, ample parking is provided at the back of stores and offices. But that cannot be done here now because lots here are small and the buildings and stores have already been constructed on the small lots. A few establishments have basement parking but they are never enough and so parking is also allowed on the streets and sidewalks.
Instead of immediately collecting parking fees from vehicles parking on streets and sidewalks, what the city council should do is authorize the city government to construct parking buildings at or near the “places of interest.” Then it would be justified in charging parking fees.
The reason vehicles are parked on streets and sidewalks is that there are no other parking areas. It is the duty of the government, both local and national, to provide the people with parking areas. Establishments with ample parking attract customers. Businessmen recognize that providing enough parking is good business practice. No parking and heavy traffic drive customers away.
Private lot owners should be enticed to construct parking buildings (shops and restaurants on the ground floor but parking on the upper floors) on their properties by offering them incentives: tax holidays, low-interest loans, etc. Then strictly prohibit parking on the streets near the parking building so drivers would use it.
Or the government itself can construct the parking building either on government land or on leased property. Then use the money collected from parking fees to fund the construction of more parking buildings. Besides, the Quezon City government has an excess of funds collected from taxpayers to build them.
The city government has spent many millions of pesos beautifying sidewalks in the Kamuning area: Tomas Morato, Timog, Panay, Quezon Avenues. But what did the business establishments along these streets do? They converted the sidewalks into their private parking slots for customers. The sidewalks are for pedestrians, not for vehicles. As “consuelo de bobo,” a narrow strip has been reserved for pedestrians, so narrow that they have to walk single file on them.
Kamuning was designed by the People’s Homesite and Housing Corp. (PHHC), the predecessor of the present National Housing Authority (NHA), as a residential area with wide sidewalks to encourage walking. It constructed two- and three-bedroom houses perched on the rolling hillsides. We lived in one of these chalets (on K-1st street) and I still remember Kamuning was beautiful during the early days, with similar-looking multi-colored chalets lining the undulating streets. On a Sunday morning, you can watch churchgoers walking down the wide sidewalks on the way to the Christ the King chapel below.
Now Kamuning is a crowded and seedy commercial-residential area with Morato, Timog and Panay as restaurant rows and Kamias lined with automotive shops. The city government widened the streets but stole parts of the sidewalks.
Some business establishments have cordoned off parts of the streets and sidewalks fronting them to reserve them for customer parking. Non-customers are shooed away.
That is illegal and those business establishments can be sued for doing that. Those sidewalks and streets belong to the public; they are not their private property and they have no vested right to it.
Undoubtedly, these areas would benefit from a few parking buildings and those businesses who have banded together to oppose the parking fees could better use their groups to construct the buildings themselves or lobby the government to build them. Meanwhile, the city council should drop the parking fee proposal and instead concentrate on putting up parking buildings.


©2009 www.inquirer.net all rights reserved

[falken]

Malaking katarantaduhan ito, the streets are paid for out of us taxpayer's money. And now, we have to pay again just to be able to park anywhere in Q.C.?! Talk about ginisa sa sariling mantika.

[cuecraftsman]

mga taxi ni coun. bong suntay nakabalagbag lang sa kalayaan avenue yun dapat nya ayusin

[huggybear]

Guys I think in effect na ito noon pa kahit wala pang ordinance ek ek.

I remember one time when I went to Gilmore to have my laptop fixed. This was last quarter ng 2006. Puno ang parking sa Gilmore IT center (basta yung building dun na maraming PC shops). So I parked on a nearby street near the building. Marami na ring naka park.

After ko magpakahirap mag parallel park, aba may lumapit na mama. Complete with ID, vest, cap...at sinisingil ako ng 25petot. Surprised ako since I used to go there before at PC Options pa lang ang nandun. He told me that my "barangay ordinance" daw na may parking fee if ever dito ka daw magpark.

Anyways, dahil nagmamadali ako, I paid na lang and then he gave me a pseudo receipt na obviously ay hindi naman official.

[joseph20]

Coun. Tong este Bong Suntay, kung mabasa man po nyo ito, ehh mahiya naman po kayo sa lantarang paglalatag ng kotong nyo sa pamamagitan ng Parking Ticket ek ek na yan!! Kung balak nyo o nagmamadali kayo makabili ng mga expedition or cayenne, huwag nyo kami gatasan ng Parking Ticket!! QC ang pinaka High Tax Payer sa Metro Manila, malaki ang TAX sa QC, ano pa kakailanganin! Pambili nyo ng iphone? Nakakabwisit talaga! Patay business nyan!

[non-vtec]

IMO, they just want a piece of the pie by legalizing the parking fee. In T. Morato/Timog area, their parking attendants/watch your car are charging as much as PHP40!

[SaberRider]

Para saken favor ako doon sa parking fee pero dapat:

1) if you're gonna park for less than 30 mins dapat free.
2) Don't make it P40. P20 lang pwede na kasi open area.
3) Flat Rate parking for the 1st 8hrs para fair. Matagal na rin 8 hrs.
3) Have security for our vehicles.
4) Since they're asking for a fee, if any form of accident happens to our vehicles while they are parked automatically dapat pananagutan na yun ng govt. Insured naman siguro yung mga parking facilities nila! If not, let them have it insured first. I don't want to use up my compre just because some guard wasn't doing his/her job. Aba, mahal rin magpa compre lalo na after you've used that compre of yours, sa susunod mong renewal eh lalo nilang itataas yung singil sa compre mo.
5) Dapat may surveillance cameras sa parking area para wala nang turuan ang mga vehicle owners at mga magbabantay just in case may aksidente. If the bantays can't provide a/v proof na wala ngang nangyari sa auto mo during their watch then panagutan nila. Sheer neglegence eh.


Ayan, tidnan naten kung papayag sila sa mga conditions na eto. Let's see if they're willing to shell out for the building and maintenance of this project nila.

[fourtheboys96]

it is actually a way of reducing vehicles on the streets. less vehicle, less pollution. and less fuel consumed.

it just needs further study and consultation. maybe only selected areas can be put under this ordinance.

[number001]

I just parked along T.Morato exactly last week, in front of a bank (the name escapes me) across Mang Inasal. No charge nor parking attendant at that time, yet.

I just hate this whole parking charges and to make things worse, these parking attendants are very corrupt and will just pocket some of the fees, if not all. Just look at Manila under Lim. I noticed since he (Lim) stepped in (I don't recall in Atienza's watch), there are parking attendants starting to charge here and there.

Two incidents happened to us. Both times while in Chinatown. After crossing Jones Bridge, we parked in front of Savory Chicken and A&S Lamps bec. we needed to go to A&S. After less than five mins, we came out and ready to leave. The Manila parking attendant insists that we pay P40.00 for parking those few minutes. He even offered P30 "kung walang resibo". A similar incident in T. Alonzo St.

If they want to collect parking fees then they should just use automated parking meters. Because what they are getting is just a sliver of what is really being collected.