We don’t want “non-Prague” electric cars here. Prague wants to limit their free parking
The Prague City Hall plans to adjust the rules for parking in paid parking zones. Now cars with the EL brand can stand on them for free. According to the management of the capital, this option should apply only to those who live and do business in Prague.
The Prague management is solving a proposal for changes in the system of the paid parking zone (ZPS). This would also mean, among other things, that the advantage of low-emission or non-emission vehicles would end. Until now, all cars with the EL registration mark, ie electric cars, hybrids and hydrogen-powered cars, which do not emit more than 50 grams of CO2 per kilometer, could stand in the blue zones for free. Newly, this relief would apply exclusively to owners of these cars with permanent residence or registered office in Prague.
According to the Prague City Hall, the number of low-emission vehicles is growing and it is necessary to limit the benefits of parking only for Prague, ie those with a place of permanent residence in Prague and entities that have their registered office in the capital. “The aim is to reduce the financial demands of parking as well as the fair management of public space and the impact of vehicle traffic on the environment,” on the website of the municipality. Adam Scheinherr, Deputy Mayor for Transport, is coming up with the reform proposal in cooperation with Deputy Minister Tomáš Portlík.
“We are monitoring the number of EL vehicles parked for free in ZPS and the growing trend of this indicator is based on planned measures. The approved press was submitted by all clubs, including the opposition. We perceive the trend of electromobility and hybrids is not a new plan, it also appears in older strategic documents of the city, “Adam Scheinherr, the deputy mayor of Prague for transport, tells Aktuálně.cz.
It thus refers to the document “Strategy of support of alternative drives in Prague until 2030“, which was published by the Prague City Council in a resolution of October 2020. It states:” Incentives in parking will bring benefits to electric cars and hybrid cars in the price of a parking permit for residents and subscribers in paid parking zones. This will replace the existing area benefits for these vehicles, which are unsustainable in the future. “
Exact data on how many cars with the EL brand are regularly parked for free in Prague and how many of them are cross-country, but the City Hall does not monitor. “We can only distinguish between Prague and non-Prague parking spaces on three percent of parking permits,” explains Scheinherr. These are the owners of cars with the EL brand who are also applying for a parking permit for residents.
Prague monitoring cars, which check the right to park in paid parking zones, but register more and more cars. While, for example, in December 2020 it “read” the EL brand for 5,950 cars, a year later it was already 10,406 cars. In April, 12,209 such cars were parked in Prague. However, the municipality has no idea how many of them park in Prague regularly and how many times it has come on only one trip, but it is evident that the number of these cars is increasing in traffic.
“Of course, the place of vehicle registration does not necessarily mean that the vehicle operated in a given place is typically large companies register their entire fleets in large cities, but they operate them throughout the Czech Republic,” adds Scheinherr.
A problem for Central Bohemian electric cars
The planned restriction could affect people from Central Bohemia the most. “Discounted parking within the metropolis is also, in our opinion, one of the motivating elements for arranging vehicles for a more environmentally friendly mode of transport. to a certain extent, “says Josef Holek from the press department of the Central Bohemian Region.
“Therefore, we consider it optimal that such a step should be taken only when sufficient capacity of P + R parking lots is created at bus and train stations so that people can use other means of transport to travel to Prague and are not forced inside Prague. . ” parking to solve, “he adds. According to him, the Central Bohemian Region is working to ensure that the P + R network in the rings of Prague is constantly expanding.
EL parking only for Praguers
What the concrete form of the discussed measure will look like, but according to Scheinherr, it is not yet on the table. The council approved a proposal to carry out a study that would elaborate in detail the parameters of the new measure, namely the corresponding benefits for alternative propulsion vehicles.
“However, it can be assumed that the new parking permit will be obtained by a smaller set of users, only Prague natural or legal persons, and therefore it will not be possible to take advantage of today’s possibility that anyone with the EL registration mark will park automatically for free,” adds Scheinherr.
Applicants will have to register either online or physically to issue an electric car or plug-in hybrid to issue parking permits and have this permit renewed each year. This is the standard process that residents or subscribers go through with ordinary cars. The applicant then receives a parking permit.
One of the few benefits will end there
In Western countries, the purchase of electric cars and individuals is also supported by subsidies, in the Czech Republic this option does not exist, so some owners of electric cars living close to the capital perceive free parking in the blue zones of Prague as one of the few benefits for driving. Nevertheless, Scheinherr insists that restricting parking for “non-Prague” is the right step and does not oppose the intention to support the purchase of eco-trucks in the Czech Republic. However, he is skeptical about subsidies.
“Direct support for the purchase of an EV car may seem like a very straightforward and simple solution, but it has a number of unquestionable negatives. only more affluent groups of the population or companies that have sufficient funds to buy an electric car would not directly support it, ”adds Scheinherr.