Many car drivers complained about difficulties in finding parking lots in downtown areas in District 1. Lack of parking space affects and hinders the work of residents, tourists, and businessmen. Moreover, many people had to pay high charges for parking their cars and motorbikes.
Many city dwellers commented that places in District 1 such as Nguyen Hue Walking Street, Le Loi Street, Quach Thi Square Trang, and Ben Thanh Market are more spacious and cleaner than before. But they were driving down the street in a sweat because they couldn't find a parking spot.
City residents moan about difficulties in finding a parking lot while it is even more difficult for tourists and people from the suburbs who occasionally travel to the city center. For instance, resident Tran Van in Linh Dong Ward of Thu Duc City said that on a recent Sunday morning, he was invited to attend a boat racing event on the Saigon River.
The opening ceremony was held at Bach Dang Wharf, at the end of Nguyen Hue walking street. Like many people, it took him more than 15 minutes to drive around on his motorbike to find a parking space and finally was able to park his vehicle in a small alley at the corner of Nguyen Hue - Ton Duc Thang streets.
Motorcyclists find it hard to find a parking space and it's even harder for car drivers to find such space. Many businessmen share their experiences that if they make appointments with partners in the city center area, they must have a private driver or taxi; otherwise, it will be difficult to arrive on time.
Even reporters of Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper could not help but struggle to find a parking space when attending the goods exhibition event at 92-96 Nguyen Hue Street where there is no parking lot. Staff of the event organizer guided people to the City Theater yard area, on Dong Khoi Street. However, the security guard said that he only kept vehicles of customers coming to work at the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City. Finally, everyone rushed to the parking lots on Ton That Thiep and Ho Tung Mau streets.
Mr. Tran Dinh Dung in District 12’s Hiep Thanh Ward said that many times he took his relatives to visit the downtown areas, but he detoured through several routes before returning home because it was difficult to find a place to park car. Due to lack of parking spots, motorbikes are seen to be parked haphazardly on many streets in the city center or on the sidewalks of Nguyen Hue pedestrian street unsightly causing passersby to go up and down a curb and go into the street to get around cars.
Another problem that motorists and car drivers face when traveling downtown areas is that they are charged with high costs at private parking lots which mainly use vacant lots, small alleys, sidewalks, and houses but do not list ticket prices according to regulations.
Drivers wished to have more parking lots managed by youth volunteer force with parking prices publicly listed.
Some locations asked drivers to pay exorbitant parking fees, many times higher than the state-regulated price. Not only tourists but many people in suburban districts also complained because of the pricey charge of parking. Mr. Tran Van shared that when he drove to the corner of Nguyen Hue - Ton Duc Thang Street, from an alley, a young man rushed forward to take his motorbike and gave him a ticket with the license plate number. About 2 hours later, he returned to pick up the car. The woman in her 50s asked him to pay the parking fee of VND20,000 (US$0.81).
A reporter of Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper had to pay VND50,000 for his car parking cost after attending the exhibition.
Currently, if a person wants to park in the city center, they can use MyParking software managed and operated by Youth Volunteer Public Services Company Limited. However, this software is showing some limitations such as positioning errors (it cannot find parking lots), no OTP code after registering a new account, and time waste for registration.
