Smart parking facilities at the Prophet's Mosque: Facilitating access for millions of visitors

An integrated system to serve visitors to the Prophet's Mosque

The General Authority for the Care of the Two Holy Mosques announced the launch of a comprehensive and smart parking system at the Prophet's Mosque, aimed at facilitating the journey for visitors and worshippers and providing them with a comfortable and spiritually enriching experience. This parking system operates around the clock, supported by the latest smart technologies and advanced monitoring systems, ensuring smooth traffic flow and enhancing the quality of services provided to visitors of the second holiest site in Islam.

Project details and capacity

The parking system consists of 24 independent units, designed to accommodate the increasing number of visitors. Each unit has a capacity of 184 vehicles, providing a substantial total capacity that helps alleviate traffic congestion in the central area surrounding the mosque. To ensure the highest safety and security standards, the facilities are equipped with over 1,000 fire extinguishers and fire hoses, as well as a state-of-the-art network of 700 smart surveillance cameras that efficiently monitor operations and detect any emergencies immediately.

Facilitating access and digital payment

To facilitate entry and exit, four main parking entrances have been strategically located around the Prophet's Mosque. These include the Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Road entrance from the north, the Quba entrance from the south, the Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Road entrance from the west, and the Prince Abdul Mohsen Road entrance from the south. This distribution ensures a balanced flow of vehicles and prevents congestion at the entrances. In line with the Kingdom's digital transformation, the authority has installed 48 self-service payment kiosks throughout the parking areas, allowing for electronic payment via QR code scanning on the parking ticket, thus saving visitors time and effort.

Historical background and strategic importance

This project is part of a series of ongoing expansion and development projects that the Prophet's Mosque has witnessed throughout history, projects to which the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has given great attention. With the increasing number of Muslims worldwide and their desire to visit the Two Holy Mosques, the urgent need to develop the surrounding infrastructure has become apparent. Modern parking facilities are an integral part of this development vision, aiming to accommodate the steady growth in the number of pilgrims and visitors, especially during peak seasons such as Ramadan and Hajj.

Expected impact and alignment with Vision 2030

This project holds immense importance both locally and internationally. Locally, it contributes to regulating traffic flow in Medina and improves the quality of life for residents and visitors. Internationally, it reflects the Kingdom's commitment to providing the highest quality services to pilgrims and reinforces its position as a leading global religious destination. This project aligns directly with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to increase the city's capacity to accommodate 30 million Umrah pilgrims annually and offer them a unique spiritual experience from the moment they arrive until their departure, as embodied in these advanced service facilities.