Drivers in Sharjah will need to keep paying for public parking two hours later into the night beginning July 1, when yellow-signed parking zones shift their cutoff from 10pm to midnight. The change brings these spaces in line with the blue-signed areas that already operate until midnight, and it applies across Sharjah city as well as Kalba, Khorfakkan and Al Dhaid.
The adjustment affects roughly 124,000 fee-based parking spaces across the emirate, where charges apply from 8am to midnight. Hamed Al Qaed, who heads the Public Parking Department at Sharjah City Municipality, said the smart parking zones in tourist districts run on a separate system with their own fee calculations, so those are not covered by the same arrangement.
According to Al Qaed, the municipality settled on the later hours after studying how parking is used across the emirate, where demand concentrates, how Sharjah compares with other systems, and what residents and visitors had to say. He pointed to season ticket holders and people visiting restaurants and cafes who struggled to find spaces once the 10pm cutoff passed, calling that a gap the city needed to close as commercial activity grew.
Subscribers will not pay more under the new hours. Al Qaed said subscription rates stay flat, and the daily free-parking window actually widens from 14 hours to 16. He framed the longer hours as a way to encourage turnover in busy commercial districts, cut down on disorderly parking and make spaces more available during peak evening hours.
Free parking on Fridays and public holidays continues unchanged, except in the zones that already charge fees every day of the week including holidays. The municipality said motorists can settle charges through SMS or the Digital Sharjah app, and noted that seasonal subscriptions remain available and can be issued quickly for those who prefer them.
