Byo parking more expensive than New York City

Stanford Chiwanga, Online News Editor
THE new parking system introduced by the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has made the cost of parking in Bulawayo more expensive than New York City when the average salaries of employees are factored in.

The new parking system is being implemented by BCC in partnership with Tendy Three International (TTI) under a six-year build, operate and transfer framework.

According to the local authority, the project is being implemented in phases.

Zone One will cater for prime parking in the city covering Leopold Takawira Avenue to 11th Avenue and Fife Street to Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Street, and started operating yesterday at US$1 for 30 minutes.

The local authority will receive 30 percent of revenue, while TTI will take 70 percent.
TTI won the tender to implement the system in July 2020 and got the green light from Cabinet to start operations in August last year.

The average cost of parking in Bulawayo a day is now US$16. In New York the day parking total is about US$19, according to SpotHero.

SpotHero is a digital parking marketplace that connects drivers looking to reserve and pay for parking spaces with parking lots, parking garages and valet services.

The company, which operates a mobile app and website as well as a parking developer platform, is available in over 300 cities in the United States and Canada.

To park in the Bulawayo city centre for eight hours a day, one has to part with US$16 which goes up to US$80 in a five-day working week, translating to US$320 per month. This means the majority of motorists will be left in the red as they earn less than US$320.

Most residents in Bulawayo earn about $30 000, which is US$120 using the auction rate.

The average full-time employee’s salary in the USA is US$5,783 a month, according to World.Data.info. In New York the average cost of parking a month on business days is US$380, which is very affordable for motorists in that city.

In other words, parking in New York City, when salaries are factored in, is ridiculously cheap, while parking in Bulawayo it is absurdly exorbitant.

Bulawayo United Residents’ Association (Bura) chairperson Mr Winos Dube said the new parking system does not factor in the plight of residents and should go.

“Our salaries do not match the cost of parking. The city council must revisit this thing and reduce the cost. The cost is really unfair on the residents. They should have considered our salaries. This defies logic.

“As residents we are going to object, this parking system caught us unaware, we were not consulted by anyone. We have read that the council is saying it consulted stakeholders, which stakeholders did they consult?

“The new parking system must go. It will be difficult for motorists to do business in the city centre, employees will suffer.  Where will they park their cars from 8AM to 5PM?” he said.

Businessman and economist, Mr Morris Mpala said the pricing model of the parking system was not justified.

“There is something wrong with the pricing, the pricing model is not right. There is nothing wrong with paying for parking in the city centre and we understand that the investor wants to recoup the money invested. But there is no investment to justify the pricing, how much has the investor put in?

The cost of the gadgets and resources used to set this new parking system is not even that high,” Mr Mpala said.

Article Source: The Chronicle