Every time you drive into a town or city, more often than not, your first task will be to hunt for a parking lot. Now, isn't this a common scenario that's getting from bad to worse, with no solution in sight?
Sometimes you think you've found an empty parking lot but before you can finish saying "yay!" you will be greeted by a big green rubbish tong… or an old plastic stool "strategically" placed there!
Worse still, occasionally you might even bump into a fierce-looking auntie armed with an umbrella signalling to you that she has "chup" the place. She might even give you a death stare as if saying: "Mister, you berani park here… you'll be dead meat!"
So kuai kuai (obediently) and quietly you resume your search for another empty parking lot which may take a few more dizzying "merry-go-rounds" before you finally grab the elusive lot - just in time before another auntie nicks it... phew!
With rapid urbanization in our country, it should be pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain that sooner or later the parking scourge will get out of hand. Imagine, in 2022 alone around 720,000 new cars were sold. In other words, there could be another 720,000 new cars hitting the roads and vying with us for parking lots soon!
That's only on the roads. How about the depressing parking situation in busy commercial areas and government premises, especially hospitals, where the mental agony of finding an empty parking lot might even force one or two stressed drivers to seek psychiatric treatment?
All of which of course begs the question: Is anyone even giving any thought to this "silent time bomb" in our midst? Certainly, the car dealers won't be bothered too much. That's not their problem. As for our MPs and YBs, they too probably don't feel the pain, as most likely, there will be a parking lot reserved for them anyway.
So it looks like it's left to the local governments to handle this potentially explosive problem. But can local authorities alone tackle this festering wound before it turns septic? Shouldn't there be a holistic, "all hands to the pump" approach by state governments in tandem with the federal government (through the Ministry of Transport and others) to start planning for the future? Or if they already have a blueprint in place, shouldn't it be communicated to the public in order to allay our fears?
True, parking shortage is a scourge in almost every country, especially so in developing countries where everyone and his cat wants to own a car. But over here, things are a bit trickier because for a relatively small country with a population of only about thirty-five million, Malaysia also happens to have at least two major national car producers who need to churn out new cars daily (almost like flipping "burgers") in order to remain profitable. This is made worse by the fact that the cars they proudly produce are mainly targeted for domestic consumption. So, the vicious cycle goes on and on.
Of course, the obvious solution to overcome parking shortage is to build and supply more parking lots both on-street (roadside parking) and off-street (designated parking bays).
In fact, in several busy urban centres like for example Petaling Jaya, authorities have built multi-storey parking lots for the public. They have also seemingly converted surplus space alongside lanes into additional parking lots for smaller vehicles. Way to go!
But isn't it about time the government also built more of that near hospitals and government departments where the need appears to be most pressing? And how about building more basement car parks at government departments for visitors (since the choice lots often seem to be reserved for the "civil servants")?
Another tried and tested method is building more "angled" parking lots on the streets as opposed to the standard side/parallel parking ones. It has been found that this may help to double the number of parking lots available (yes, double!). Angled parking lots may also discourage "double parking" which incidentally seemed to have become endemic in our country, especially in the Klang Valley.
However, these aren't the only ways the authorities can help to free up more parking spaces, especially in urban areas. They can also review and revamp existing off-street parking bays to increase their capacity.
This writer had noticed at one government parking site in Selangor (opposite a police station) that a large part of it seemed to resemble a junkyard - filled with wrecked cars occupying precious parking lots. Because of this many drivers are then forced to park illegally along the roadside, particularly during lunch hour!
By the way, did you know that many times there could be empty parking lots nearby but you may not be aware of it? Given that we are now living in the digital age with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) at our disposal, shouldn't we leverage more on smart technology which uses sensors and camera systems? With the help of apps, the motoring public will then have access to real-time parking availability. This will save them plenty of time, energy and petrol costs, won't it?
In a way, it will also help to optimize parking space usage and enable the use of existing capacity more efficiently. Shouldn't our authorities then invest more in this kind of smart technology, especially in busy and congested urban and city centres?
Of course, there are other ways to tackle the scarcity of parking lots such as ride-sharing/carpool etc as well as improving public transport and connectivity by expanding other modes of transportation such as LRT and MRT. Yet, somehow in our country, their impact has been limited - possibly due to Malaysians' addiction to driving their own cars - come rain, shine or flash flood!
Likewise restricting motorists' access to busy urban areas may also prove to be unpopular and not feasible, especially in Malaysia. Let's face it - will anyone here buy a brand new Myvi and leave it on their house car porch?
Of course, there is another unorthodox solution that may not be so apparent but which may help to reduce traffic congestion and at the same time address the problem of saturated parking lots, that is, if more employers pivot to allow their staff to work from home (WFH).
Perhaps the unity government can encourage and consider offering incentives or tax rebates to companies that offer their employees the WFH option which was popular during the pandemic. It would appear to be a win-win situation as "workplace flexibility" is what many are drawn to these days, especially the younger generation.
In conclusion, leaving this parking shortage problem unresolved could eventually lead to a load of other issues including drivers taking the law into their own hands, the proliferation of parking lot bullies and altercations among drivers which may lead to injuries or even death.
Bearing all these in mind, shouldn't the authorities start coming up with proactive measures/plans to defuse this ticking time bomb?
JK Joseph is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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