Once Nadini posted images of parking metres.
Here is a new one. I took this last Sunday. (On Foch Street)

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/9856/dscn1400wx1.jpg

tnxss Naroug. Still unwrapped ehh, when will they begin imposing and making new traffic laws??

^^lol,seriously,why still unwrapped???

I made this topic into a separate thread because this issue is really important, I see it as a major step in modernizing the city and improving traffic problems.

I just hope people begin to respect these new meters just like they are starting to respect the new traffic lights.

Does anyone know how much it will cost to park per hour?

Also, what do you guys think about this design, I think they could have made them a little more slender and less bulky.

Well,i don't see a problem in the way they look.

^^ I know but the ones in Europe and North America take up much less space on the sidewalk.

noo, over here its bigger lool, this is not a parking meter, well it is but not the one where u would see for each parking space, its just one for all, u pay and a ticket will print out, then u go place it on ur car's dashboard. At Carleton Uni these parking meters are huge lol.

I see your point

Still,we don't have to be like Europe or the states.I mean they are good this way.i don't think they spent alot of money to put ugly meters.Beirut municipality really knows how to make Beirut look Good.

noo, over here its bigger lool, this is not a parking meter, well it is but not the one where u would see for each parking space, its just one for all, u pay and a ticket will print out, then u go place it on ur car's dashboard. At Carleton Uni these parking meters are huge lol.

In that case, then no they are not big at all. The ticket meters are actually starting to replace the old-fashioned ones here in the States because they are much better.

^^ yepp, but the question is will the people say ''opss i didnt know where the parking meter was located'' or would they actually follow the rules.

^^ I guess it depends on if the people are Lebanese...

^^ is this a riddle? lool what do u mean

^^ lol it was a joke, meaning that if the people are Lebanese they of course will give excuses and not follow the rules...but tourists are different.

Parking Meters are annoying i got fined twice ! =D haha

Courtesy of bloggingbeirut
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/2062/parking1rr7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/9505/parking4mo8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/3870/parking3fe8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/3899/parking2zz3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

i dunno what to say...

is it beautifull? is it good... ? thats what im used to saying to most pics on the Lebanese forums

this one,

IS niccceee! :okay:

^^ ;)

im going to be negative i havent been in a while

i find it no big deal about these Parking meters no point going OOO AHHH to them

^^ lol , Jayme,U can't deny they help sometimes :D

mehhhhhhhh

i give it a month before it gets run over by someone!

+++++++++++++++++++++

i give it a month before it gets run over by someone!

:lol: wlak to2ubreneeeeeee :D

i give it a month before it gets run over by someone!

loool! a month?? ouff why so generous :nuts:

^^
:lol:

1 month lebgurl/??

New, high-tech parking meters will soon 'civilize' streets of Beirut

Private company will try its hand at monitoring and enforcement


BEIRUT: As anyone who has traveled in a car through the diesel-fumed streets of the capital can surely attest, in Lebanon there are no rules of the road, at least none that are observed.

Beirutis regard traffic lights as mere suggestions and cars routinely speed through red lights and careen in the wrong direction down one-way streets. Vehicles parked three deep clog narrow neighborhood thoroughfares, forcing pedestrians to navigate a virtual obstacle course around oversized SUVs and decrepit service taxis.

But life may get a bit easier for everyone next month when the second phase of the Council for Development Reconstruction's (CDR) on-street parking meter installation program continues, moving on from the isolated avenues of Beirut Central District to crowded commercial strips like Bliss Street and Charles Malek Avenue.

About 50 "pay and display" meters went up in Bab Idriss and Rue Foch this month, and a further 750 machines, serving 7,500 spaces, will go up in business districts - including, eventually, the area currently hosting the opposition's tent city - over the next two-and-a-half-years. Funded by an $8 million World Bank loan, the program is expected to generate up to $5 million in revenues for the Beirut municipality if successful, and will hopefully regulate some of the more populated and anarchic routes in the city. But will drivers who so freely flout traffic laws actually pay the LL500 per half hour it will soon cost to park on Beirut's busiest streets for up to two hours?

Will business owners cooperate with new parking rules at the risk of alienating customers? And how will Near East Automatic Distributors (NEAD) - the private company contracted by CDR to manage, operate, and enforce the on-street pilot program - succeed where government authorities have failed?

NEAD manager Chafic Sinno plans to give them no choice.

"The government is not in charge of enforcing paid parking rules," Sinno said of why people will obey. "I will be the one sending my staff to issue surcharges if people don't pay, I will be the one booting and towing cars if they don't pay."

NEAD has already hired 40 field officers to monitor neighborhoods and enforce violations, and the team will gradually increase to 150 as the program expands. Customers will feed money into the pay and display machine - each will serve between 10 and 20 customers - which will feed them a coupon to display in the windshield.

Vehicles that remain in spaces past the allotted time will receive up to three citations requiring the driver to pay progressively larger fines of LL10,000, LL20,000, then LL30,000.

If three so-called "surcharges" (under Lebanese law NEAD cannot use the word ticket, according to Sinno) are accumulated within 15 days, a uniformed NEAD guard will "boot" the car. Each is expected to issue about 70 citations a day.

Though a violator could presumably rip up the "surcharge" notice and drive home on day 14 before NEAD clamps steal blocks around the car tires, the computerized meter connects wirelessly to a main office which records outstanding payments.

In contrast to the outdated pole meters lining the streets of Tripoli, the machines in Beirut are tamper-proof, and send a signal to NEAD if someone tries to break or steal money from the machine. The new system will "civilize" the streets of Beirut, said Sinno, which is why the World Bank encouraged the CDR to take on the project.

"Today people place sticks, large objects, or signs to reserve parking places, which is not civilized at all. Finally the parking in Beirut will be regulated now," he predicted.

The CDR "anticipates that most users will abide by the regulations of the on-street parking meters as it is the case in Tripoli," project manager Elie Helou wrote in a faxed response to The Daily Star's inquiry.

But those with first-hand knowledge of Beirut's chaotic streets are skeptical about residents' willingness to comply with the new system.

A valet attendant at Paul in Gemmayzeh dismissed the prospect with a laugh.

"Of course they won't do it," he said, cocking his head "no" with a definitive tongue click.

"Even if they boot their car people won't pay. Trust me they would break them first."

Nearby, the traffic policeman at the nearby Saifi intersection agreed that Lebanese drivers are as unlikely to comply with parking fees as they are with traffic lights. "There are a lot of troubles here and nobody has any money, plus Lebanese people don't like to pay for anything," he said on condition of anonymity.

He issues about 10 citations a day for parking violations, but the thousands of drivers who ignore both street lights and his directions go unpunished. Though the officer has the authority to stop cars for failing to observe traffic signals, he rarely does so.

"What am I supposed to do, run after a car that speeds through a red light? Sometimes they listen to me, and sometimes they keep going. It depends if they are busy or late for work," he shrugged, before jumping in the middle of the intersection to demonstrate. Though no vehicles came to a complete stop, the growl of motors dimmed to a purr of token compliance for a split second - much to the young officer's delight - before charging ahead aggressively.

"It's the afternoon, so they obey me but sometimes they almost run me over

noo, over here its bigger lool, this is not a parking meter, well it is but not the one where u would see for each parking space, its just one for all, u pay and a ticket will print out, then u go place it on ur car's dashboard. At Carleton Uni these parking meters are huge lol.

so theres one on each street? instead of one between every two car-parking spaces? ..hmmm... good idea to be honest.

so theres one on each street? instead of one between every two car-parking spaces? ..hmmm... good idea to be honest.

Yes, we can find these across the world now, they are more convenient. If lets say its a big parking lot, then all they need to do is place 2 of those machine at each end of the parking lots instead of one for every parking space. I hope people follows the rule and not ignore them because this could improve the city majorly!

^^ this is what Beirut Deserves :) Good job Beirut Municipality :)

Beirut Will have its First Parking Meters Since Civil War
Come Monday, Beirut city officials hope to help ease the Lebanese capital's nightmarish traffic congestion with the first parking meters installed since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.
Twenty of the coin- and card-operated machines will be inaugurated in a trendy shopping area of the city centre, which has for the most part been declared off-limits to parking for security concerns.

Colonel Joseph Doueihy, in charge of the traffic department at the interior ministry, told AFP that gradually more units will be installed throughout the capital as part of a major effort to regulate circulation.

Funding for the project came from the World Bank.

"I think enforcement always leads to results because in the end citizens think of the bottom line, of their pockets," Doueihy said.

He said people who fail to feed the meters or who overstay the two-hour limit risk a ticket of 20,000 pounds (about 13 dollars) or even being towed.

"We have a special police force from the traffic department that will be enforcing the regulations," Doueihy said. "Our aim is to institute order and to ease the city's traffic chaos."

Shops and businesses along the streets where the parking meters have been installed
welcomed the measure, saying it should attract customers who are currently prevented from parking in the area which is roped off.

"At least with the parking meters, people will be able to stop for five or 10 minutes to carry out their business in the area," said Tony Attallah, a security agent at Bank of Beirut.

At the nearby Timberland clothing store, employee Shafic Shamseddin said he hoped the meters would bring in customers who shy away from coming in right now because of the parking problem.

"I think given the mentality of the Lebanese, the cops are initially going to be giving out a lot of tickets," he said. "But after people get their first ticket, they will have learned a good lesson and will abide by the law."

But Safaa Shaker, who works at Anabel, a craft store, doubted the meters would help ease the city's traffic nightmare.

"I don't think people will respect the rules because they are used to chaos," she said. "I think they will try and find a way to beat the system.

"And even if they get tickets, do you really think they will pay them?"

Parking meters existed before the 15-year civil war but were destroyed in the fighting. Traffic lights have also made a tentative return since the conflict. (AFP)

OMG How exciting! You guys are gonna love paying three dollars an hour to park!! :P

On the bright side, they're shiny new modern ones. In Canada, we still use parking metres from the 1950s. They're small, and you HAVE to use coins. It looks like those ones allow a prepaid card or maybe even debit?!

Which side of the road do they drive on in Lebanon?

So does this means that if someone parks his car for more than 2 hours he have to pay 20,000L.L.?!

OMG How exciting! You guys are gonna love paying three dollars an hour to park!! :P

On the bright side, they're shiny new modern ones. In Canada, we still use parking metres from the 1950s. They're small, and you HAVE to use coins. It looks like those ones allow a prepaid card or maybe even debit?!

yes you are able to use your mastercard or your debit card to pay for parking. I've seen a few of these in Ottawa at OttawaU and Carleton.. but your right they have the 1950's one. Still good to use hehe.

Which side of the road do they drive on in Lebanon?

not like you Australian and English, same as the USA

So does this means that if someone parks his car for more than 2 hours he have to pay 20,000L.L.?!

yep, it's made that way so it gives a chance for somebody else to park on the spot.

In the April Article they say 50 have been installed..so only 20 of the 50 are going to start working?

http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/10/26/parking%20meter%20%2C%20beirut.jpg

wait.. didnt we hear about this like a while ago ?

^^yes
but they will start operating tomorrow

In Downtown Montreal, all the parking meters have been replaced by the new ones. It used to cost $1.5/hour, now it is $3/hour. About the two hours limit, it is no longer reinforced as I can be 2 Kms away and pay my parking again at any machine. In Montreal, there is an army of employees to give tickets, I got a few of those for fogetting to pay :rant:, normally if you don't pay, you get a ticket within 15 minutes.
It is good that we can pay by credit card so we don't have to use coins; however, with those new meters, you cannot know how much time is left by the car the preceeded yours.:bash:

http://www.statdemtl.qc.ca/en/on_street/gear.aspx

BloggingBeirut
http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/7464/meter1ks9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/5227/meter0su6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/2061/meter2mw6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/3156/meter3kg3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

^^I like how it's Available in Arabic,English and Francais :)

^^ The fine is only 10,000 LBP, that is less than $10! OMG it is cheap! :nuts: Humm 15 days only to pay a fine, that's short.
Plus they might use clamps in case of non-payment after 3 unpaid tickets!
I am wondering if they would be serious in enforcing the law.
How about traffic lights, are motorists respecting them?