Another hundreds of millions in the coffers. Prague is expanding parking zones
The newly designated “blue” parking zones are in the part of Prague 9, which is closest to the “eight”, where the zones have been operating for some time. There are Českomoravská and Vysočanská metro stations on the “nine”, i.e. also near the O2 arena.
On the border between Libn and Vysočany, local residents have been complaining about the parking situation for a long time, especially when sports or cultural events are held in the hall. Therefore, the town hall established a special zone here more than 10 years ago, and only local residents had parking permits, but for free.
This parking permit was in the form of a card behind the glass of a parked car and did not allow cross-country drivers to legally park in places reserved for residents. Improperly parked cars began to be fined and towed.
Old parking card for some streets of Prague 9
Photo: Marek Bednář, Novinky
The newly established ZPS, however, give cross-country drivers the legal option to pay for parking in these streets, in the amount of 30 crowns per hour for a maximum of 24 hours. All streets fall into the so-called purple zone, where both people with a permit and those who cross the street can park, and are valid 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The set tariff means that three- and four-hour parking on the street (i.e. 90 and 120 crowns respectively) in the event of a sporting or cultural event at the O2 is cheaper than parking in the underground car park of the Galerie Harfa department store (the first two hours are free, then 100 CZK/h, i.e. 100 crowns for 3 hours, 200 crowns for 4 hours) or in the parking lots of the O2 arena (100 to 200 crowns for the duration of the event). Vysočanská town hall plans that during concerts and other events at the O2 you will get a price for parking in its vicinity, but for now the permanent price is 30 CZK/h.
In November, Prague 9 opened the issuing of parking permits in the building of the old town hall in Sokolovská street. The first registration people come to do in person. Only people with a permanent residence in Prague 9, property owners or entrepreneurs who have their company headquarters can apply for a parking permit.
Residents pay 1,200 crowns per year for one car, residents over 65 or holders of ZTP, ZTP-P 360 crowns. Property owners and entrepreneurs in the city district will pay 7,000 crowns per year for one vehicle, or 24,000 crowns if they need a transferable permit, i.e. with the possibility of changing the registration mark, for which the fee is paid.
The Prague municipality received the most money from parking zones in Prague 1 the year before last. After deducting costs, it is about 170.7 million crowns, which was reduced by about 60 million more. In 2018, people from all zones in Prague 1 to 8 paid a total of approximately 650.5 million crowns into the city coffers.
Expenses for issuing parking permits or zone management costs are included among the costs. The zones are managed by the municipal company Technical Communications Administration (TSK), and parking permits are issued by the town hall. Zones in their modern form first appeared in 1996 in the Prague 1 part, where efforts to regulate traffic appeared as early as 1982. They were subsequently expanded and operate in Prague 1 to 8.