Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have approved a proposal from the city’s Department of Transport to pilot a technology app for car parking in District 1 over a three-month period.

The iParking pilot will be conducted in the area in front of the New World Hotel, on Le Lai, Phan Chu Trinh, and Phan Boi Chau Streets (near Ben Thanh Market), with 150-170 spaces available for VND5,000 ($0.2) a time.

Drivers need to download the My Parking app on their smartphone, which provides them with parking locations on a digital map and indicates available spaces. 

It also advises on the best route to the parking area and allows advanced payment on bookings.

The purpose of iParking is to ensure transparency in payments, limiting the dishonest conduct found in regular parking. 

There are 73 streets in the city that permit parking with a fee, but these fees are too low. 

Some places don’t charge a fee at all, turning the street into a free parking zone and causing traffic congestion. 

The department therefore drafted a project, which is expected to be submitted to the city’s People’s Council at the end of 2018.

If adopted after the pilot, parking fees of cars of ten seats or less would be VND20,000 ($0.9) in the day time and VND40,000 ($1.7) at night in Area 1 (Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 10, and 11, and Tan Binh and Phu Nhuan districts), and VND15,000 ($0.7) and VND30,000 ($1.5) in other districts. 

For cars of more than ten seats, the fee in Area 1 is VND25,000 ($1.1) in the day time and VND50,000 ($2.2) at night, and VND20,000 ($0.9) and VND 40,000 ($1.7) in other districts.

Hanoi piloted iParking in the central district of Hoan Kiem in May and will introduce iParking at an additional 118 parking lots and nine streets in four districts from September 1 if approval is forthcoming from the Hanoi People’s Committee.

VN Economic Times