Parking is a huge problem in Petržalka. (source: TASR)
Bratislava is one of the last large European cities without a parking policy. This should change in 2020 when Bratislava city council, in cooperation with all the city’s boroughs, plans to introduce a city-wide parking policy. Its aim is to reduce the number of cars in the city and protect and secure parking places for Bratislava residents.
“The parking policy is a must,” said Bratislava Mayor Matúš Vallo when introducing the policy on April 11. “The number of cars in the city is growing and the parking policy is a tested tool to curb them. It works effectively and in the long term in other cities.”
It is proposed that the first annual parking card per household should cost €49. The card for the second car in a household will cost €150 while the price of the third card will be €500. With it the holder can park in his/her residential zone free of charge while he or she will be able to park free of charge in other residential zones for two hours per day. The card will also provide its holder 100 free hours of parking for their visits in the given residential zone.
Only people with permanent residence in Bratislava would be allowed to buy a parking card. Those without it will pay commercial parking fees, ranking from €0.5 to €2 per hour while the most expensive parking will be in the Old Town.
Those with any relation to real estate in the city will be able to buy season tickets ranking from €1,500 per year to €500 per year depending on the tariff zone.
For the time being the city council and councillors of individual boroughs are fine-tuning the parking policy which still needs to be approved by Bratislava councillors. Only then would it become effective.
While the parking policy should be valid city-wide, it will be up to each borough whether it would introduce areas with regulated parking.
