Prague will significantly reduce tourist “veterans” in the center, smell and take up space
The Prague City Hall, in cooperation with a replica of historic vehicles, offers tourists sightseeing tours of the metropolis. According to the city management, there are already too many of them. Locals complain about excessive noise and odors, but also that they take up parking spaces. Prague is now before signing an agreement with the association of operators, which will set stricter rules for them and limit the number of cars.
They cannot be avoided while walking through the center of Prague. Sometimes a tourist can see several of them in one place. Historic vehicles, which are mostly only their newly made replicas, offer an hour-long ride around the metropolis for more than two thousand crowns.
However, the locals are not very happy about this business. “Locations are increasingly suffering from increased traffic, which is associated with excessive noise and odors from these vehicles, occupying parking spaces in residential areas, but also occupying supply spaces and large areas of the road while waiting for customers. Parking is no exception. in places where it does not mean traffic signs, “stands in a petition that citizens recently sent to Mayor Zdeněk Hřib and the head of the coalition of Prague, Jan Čižinský.
Problems with these cars are also being solved by the councilor of Prague 1 for transport, David Skála. “It bothers us that they go to places that are problematic either for the locals or from the point of view of safety. When in Mostecká Street (which leads from Charles Bridge on Malostranské Square, note. Red.) this big car moves among about seven thousand pedestrians who pass there every day, so it is far from ideal, “said Skála.
The municipality therefore decided to enter into a new agreement with the operators of these cars. They will adjust the conditions so that their business does not bother residents too much. At the same time, operators must already obtain a license from the city, which, among other things, determines the route of their sightseeing trips.
Fewer boarding places and fewer cars
Part of the new agreement will be that some of the most affected places will fall out of the sightseeing routes. “We have agreed to modify the routes so that these cars do not disturb the most important sights and do not unnecessarily increase car traffic,” said Deputy Mayor for Transport Adam Scheinherr.
Replicas of historic vehicles should not drive to Velkopřevorské náměstí near Lennon Wall or to Mostecká Street, for example. “We have excluded from those places that are extremely exposed to pedestrians, or those where they slow down traffic by loving people,” added Skála.
In addition, these vehicles will have a designated traffic point where they will be able to pick up their customers wherever possible.
The agreement should also include a significant decrease in these cars. While there are now about 150 of them in Prague according to councilors, only forty vehicles should have a new license. According to councilor Skála, it should also meet the Euro 4 emission standard so that it does not disproportionately burden the air in the city.
The agreement is already before it is concluded, according to councilors, the last details are being fine-tuned. “I reckon that signatures will take place by the beginning of the holidays,” Scheinherr told the daily Aktuálně.cz.