Parking in George Town
Parking in George Town can be quite a challenge for people who are unfamiliar. Here's some tips for parking in George Town, if you are planning to drive here from outside Penang. On Penang Island, you will find two types of street parking: those using parking attendants, and those using coin-operated meters. Of these two types, I very much prefer having parking attendants. The main reason is that it is impossible to get fined for parking over time.
Parking Attendants
Some streets are served by parking attendants. You can recognize them as they carry a sling bag holding their parking receipts, which is in the form of a thick booklet. After you have parked your car, you can pay him in advance, and he will issue you a receipt, which he slips under the windscreen wiper.
In most places in George Town, parking is about 30 sen or 40 sen for every 30 minutes. You can pre-pay for a non-refundable time, or alternatively, you according to the amount of time spent when you are ready to leave. As it may be a hassle trying to locate the parking attendant when it's time to leave, I usually pay for about an hour if I happen to see the parking attendant nearby.
If you park your car without pre-paying - often because the parking attendant is nowhere around - when he comes back, he will issue a parking notice, which he has to update every half hour. When you return to retrieve your car, bring the parking notice to him, and he will issue you a receipt according to the amount of time you have parked.
If the parking attendant is nowhere to be found, you may try to make payment with another attendant - some will be willing to issue you a receipt, but some will not accept the parking notice issued by a different attendant. If you're unable to get the parking paid on the street, the other alternative is to make the payment at the Penang Municipal Council (also called Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang, or MPPP) office at Komtar. The counter at the MPPP office on Level 3 will collect your parking fee and issue you a receipt.
If you do not pay your parking within 14 days, the MPPP may issue you a summon, with then will cost you about RM20 to foot. Failure to pay the summons will have a bad impact on locals, as it may prevent us from renewing our road tax the following year.
Parking Meter
Some streets in George Town do not use parking attendants. Instead there are parking meters at regular intervals, usually one for every two parking lots. I find that parking meters are a big hassle. You have to prepare a lot of coins for it. The meters only accept the 10 sen, 20 sen and 50 sen coins. Also, you have to ensure that the meter is fed for a longer period that you are actually parked, for it is goes to zero, you are liable to receive a fine. There are MPPP officers on patrol checking the meters to make sure the parking meters are fed.
In most places in the business district of George Town, you need to pay for parking during office hours, which usually runs from 9:00 am in the morning to 5:00 pm in the evening for Mondays to Fridays. On Saturdays, parking is charged from 9:00 am in the morning till 1:00 pm in the afternoon. Parking is free after office hours as well as on Sundays and public holidays. In these places, if parking attendant is used, the price is usually 30 sen per half hour while if you find parking meters, it would be 40 sen per half hour (I can never comprehend why it is more expensive with parking meters!)
In some places in Penang, the MPPP rent out the street parking lots to private agents. You can expect to pay more, and for longer periods too, when agents collect parking. In such cases, it is almost always that the parking fee is 40 sen per half hour. That's the max for street parking. However, there will be longer chargeable parking hours, up to 9:00 pm at night in some places, and on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays too. These places are usually near to major attractions and hawker centres, where the returns is certain due to patronage outside of office hours.
Parking in Shopping Malls
It is a given thing that parking at shopping malls are a lot more expensive than on the street. Gurney Plaza charges RM1.50 for the first one hour and RM1.00 for every subsequent hour. Queensbay Mall charges a different rate depending on where you park. I usually park on the 5th level, which charges RM1.00 for the first 4 hours (previously it was RM1.00 for unlimited time). Sunshine Square charges RM1.00 for the first 2 hours, waived if you produce a shopping receipt as proof of having done a purchase there. Tesco is one of the places where parking is free.
Budget Accommodation in Penang
If you're coming to Penang on a budget, you'd be pleased to know that there's quite a number of places in George Town as well as in Batu Ferringhi that offers good clean accommodation without costing you an arm and a let. If I am allowed to be biased, I would recommend Hotel Mingood, which happens to belong to a friend of mine. If it is occupied, there are plenty of other places that cost less than US$12.00 per night. Here are some suggestions:
Hutton Lodge, from US$8.25
Baba Guesthouse, from US$7.57
E.T. Budget Guesthouse, from US$6.05
YMCA Penang, from US$6.53
Sri Sayang Resort, from US$7.43
Ali's Ferringhi Guest House, from US$9.63
Despite the best intentions to provide you information that is as accurate as possible, do be aware that prices may have changed and exchange rates fluctuated since I wrote this. So please personally and carefully screen through the available accommodation before making your booking, to avoid any disappointments.
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Attendant Parking
Parking notice, issued by parking attendant to show duration parked (11 December 2008)
© Timothy Tye
Parking receipt, issued by parking attendant after you pay for your parking (11 December 2008)
© Timothy Tye
Meter Parking
Parking meter in Penang (17 December 2008)
© Timothy Tye
Coin slot and timer, parking meter (17 December 2008)
© Timothy Tye
Timetable (17 December 2008)
© Timothy Tye
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