Filenews 10 April 2023 - by Dora Christodoulou
It was welcomed by all as a development that will contribute to the revitalization of the finances of the Municipality of Pafos and the modernization of the procedures followed for the comfortable and easy parking of citizens in organized areas. Now, however, the first murmurs and complaints about the provisions of the smart parking system in the city of Pafos have begun to grow.
The main cause of the objections is the provision taken by the Municipality of Pafos and applied by the administrator of the smart parking system for the duration of the charge in specific parts of the city. In particular, the inclusion of the coastal Poseidonos Avenue in zone C, which provides for a charge period of one euro for 30 minutes, has caused a chain reaction that speaks of an irrational and cunning decision of the competent authorities.
Businessmen and citizens claim, in particular, that on the coastal avenue of Kato Paphos, the heart of the tourist area, those who go do so to sit in leisure centres only. Therefore, they observe, applying the charge for 30 minutes is a completely ridiculous decision, since no one will go for coffee or food and it will take half an hour. "As is the case in areas of the mall, there should be a two-hour parking provision, even with a fixed amount of more than one euro per hour. The customer who goes for a coffee or a dinner cannot have the stress every half hour to renew the parking time, especially since the system starts sending warning sms to the user's mobile phone from 20 minutes."
Many professionals in the tourist area of the pier argue that this arrangement was made with the aim of further promoting commercial traffic in the renovated Paphos shopping centre at the expense of Kato Paphos. "In the mall there is a 2-hour parking zone for one euro," they observe, "although there are also many shops there. Therefore, the consumer may also go there for shopping, which he will complete within the half-hour. On the contrary, in the coastal area of Kato Paphos, everyone without exception comes for the purpose of catering and not commercial shopping. So it's not at all reasonable to expect the half-hour to be valid here."
The Municipality of Pafos estimates based on its studies and designs that with the implementation of the innovative smart parking technology that has been fully operational for a few weeks now, the revenues of the municipal authority from parking within the municipal boundaries will skyrocket in 2023 by more than one million euros per year. This is a very important upgrade of the financial data of the Municipality, it is noted, taking into account that so far the benefit from municipal parking spaces ranges from €200-300,000.
3,300 places for cars
The project for the installation and maintenance of a smart parking management system includes the management of 3,300 parking spaces in organized areas and roadsides using sensors in each location. The sensor subsurface recognizes that a vehicle has been parked at that point and sends a signal to the management system. There it appears whether the payment of the relevant fee was made electronically and if not, a signal is sent after a few minutes to the traffic wardens of the Municipality of Pafos that a vehicle has been parked in the specific numbered place for which the relevant fee has not been paid.
