No free parking in downtown Bucharest starting with August

Bucharest City Hall aims to organize parking spaces in central Bucharest according to a digitalized system, turning free parking in the area into a fond memory.

Parking inspectors will be able to easily check who paid or not from their cars, through an app. Drivers who fail to pay the new parking tax will be fined and their car will have one of its wheels or the windshield blocked.

The new tax is part of Bucharest City Hall’s new parking strategy, which also features investments in digitalization, a fast-pay system, and a series of barriers and surveillance cameras.

“It’s about creating a modern parking service,” Bucharest deputy mayor Stelian Bujduveanu said in an interview for HotNews. He explained that up to RON 26 mln (EUR 5.2 mln) will go into creating new parking spaces and renovating existing ones, aside from digitalization.

“Digitalizing a service eliminates the interaction between the parking agents and the citizen, therefore eliminating corruption as well,” Bujduveanu added.

The official also stated that Bucharest’s downtown currently has roughly 13,000 parking spaces and that the administration aims to reach 30,000 spaces.

Parking on the sidewalk will also no longer be tolerated, while residents of central Bucharest will be directed towards designated parking lots or will benefit from a deducted parking tax.

“No one will come to leave a fine in your windshield,” said Bujduveanu. “Cars will travel through parking lots with cameras able to automatically check if you paid or not. If you haven’t, a fine will be sent directly to your home.”

Until the new measure comes into effect, local authorities in the capital plan to organize an aggressive campaign to inform citizens of the changes.

(Photo source: Octav Ganea/Inquam Photos)