Riyadh launches major parking expansion to ease congestion in busy districts

In a fast-growing city like Riyadh, parking is no longer a minor service issue. It has become one of the most prominent urban challenges associated with rising population density in global cities, expanding commercial activity, and increasing demand to reach key destinations. As vehicle numbers grow, a clear gap has emerged between parking supply and demand, reflected in random parking, mounting pressure on commercial streets, spillover into nearby residential neighborhoods, and congestion caused by long searches for parking spaces.

Beyond disrupting traffic flow, this situation has also affected quality of life, reduced resident comfort, affected business efficiency, and altered the city’s urban landscape. That is where Riyadh Parking comes in, helping address the roots of the challenge through an integrated approach that goes beyond regulating parking to focus on a real and sustainable increase in supply, particularly by expanding the operation and development of parking facilities.

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Riyadh Parking is currently developing more than 40 municipal land plots into effective, safe, and sustainable parking facilities in partnership with the private sector. These include parking lot sites, multi-story parking, as well as mechanical parking systems in strategic locations serving high-demand areas, office districts and employment centers, zones surrounding the Riyadh Metro stations, hospitals, car rental activities, truck stops, and more. This expansion represents a fundamental step towards closing the growing demand gap and reducing reliance on on-street parking as the only option.

These facilities are expected to be built across a total area exceeding 600,000 square meters, delivering more than 10,000 new parking spaces. This will increase the supply of public parking in the capital and support long-term sustainable urban solutions.

This direction follows an operational phase that proved the system’s readiness. During 2025, more than 22,000 paid on-street parking spaces were activated on commercial streets, and over 300,000 managed free parking spaces were overseen within residential neighborhoods. In addition, more than 32,000 residential permits have been issued since activation began, more than 500 solar-powered electronic payment devices have been deployed, and app users have surpassed half a million. These figures form a regulatory foundation that supports the shift toward expanding supply through off-street parking.

In this context, Eng. Mohammed Bash Ayan, Executive Director of Mobility Solutions at Remat al-Riyadh Development Company, said: “The value of off-street parking is not limited to adding new parking spaces. It also reshapes the urban environment by reducing visual distortion caused by random parking, easing traffic congestion resulting from wrong parking, improving the efficiency of municipal asset utilization, and supporting economic activity through innovative design models aligned with the capital’s ambitions.”

He added: “This system does not operate in isolation. It is built on operational integration between off-street parking and on-street parking, achieving a balanced distribution of demand, enhancing supply-and-demand management efficiency, and guiding users to the most suitable options depending on trip type and duration, within a unified citywide parking management framework.”

According to the executive, “Multi-story parking for example will not be built as a traditional enclosed structure. It is designed according to high sustainability standards that enhance energy efficiency, in line with the Salmani Urban Code, and integrated with the mobility network. Up to 25 percent of its area is allocated to commercial and service uses that help activate surrounding sites and transform them into integrated urban destinations, while also supporting alternative mobility options and connections to nearby facilities. As for the parking lot sites, their design prioritizes smooth circulation and easy entry and exit, alongside environmental considerations and improving the urban appearance of surrounding areas. Meanwhile, mechanical parking systems represent an advanced model of innovation and vertical space optimization at the highest possible efficiency, enabling more spaces within limited footprints.”

This diversity in design models reflects a shift from simply adding more spaces to building an integrated urban system that addresses the underlying problem in a sustainable way. According to studies conducted by Riyadh Parking, once the new facilities are fully operational, the time spent searching for a parking space is expected to drop by up to 45 percent, and traffic congestion in high-density areas may decrease by up to 10 percent. Shorter travel and parking-search times are also expected to reduce carbon emissions caused by vehicles circulating for longer periods, strengthening the environmental dimension of the proposed solutions.

These indicators are expected to directly improve turnover in on-street parking and raise utilization efficiency. While paid on-street parking helps regulate use and improve compliance, off-street parking facilities provide added capacity that absorbs growing pressure and balances residents’ needs with commercial requirements, within a comprehensive vision that addresses Riyadh’s parking challenge in a structural and sustainable manner.

As development contracts for new sites continue to be signed, Riyadh Parking is moving to establish an integrated model that tackles the capital’s parking challenge at its roots by expanding supply through maximizing the use of municipal assets and organizing optimal parking use. This reinforces the sustainability of solutions, keeps pace with Riyadh’s rapid growth, and supports its transformation into a more organized city with more efficient urban mobility management.