City curbside parking reform postponed

The Department of Transport has admitted it has not been able to improve public transport enough to meet the key requirement for the city’s curbside parking pricing reform, and has asked for its introduction to be delayed by two years.

The Economic Arrangements Act 2021 includes a provision that will not allow cities with a population of more than 40,000 to grant an exemption from roadside parking fees to all their residents. The local authority will have to divide the city into parking zones, with residents only granted an exemption in the area they live in.

The reform was scheduled to come into effect on January 1, 2025, but has now been postponed to January 1, 2027.

This arrangement aims to create negative incentives for the use of private vehicles by local residents, by increasing the price of parking in public places, and thus causing a preference for other means of transportation – public transport, walking and light transport, according to the explanation behind the reform.

In many cities around the world, parking spaces, as a scarce public resource, are more expensive than in Israel. However, in contrast to the professional position taken by the Ministry of Transport until now, it now claims that “in order to achieve the purpose of the law and not just increase the cost of using parking spaces in public places, it is necessary to ensure, among other things, the availability and ease of access to alternatives to the private car.”

The ministry acknowledges that since the law came into effect about four years ago, and until the date of its implementation, “sufficient preparations have been made on this issue, which includes, among other things, legislation and updating of subsidiary laws, improvement of public transportation, incentives for using public transportation, solutions for special groups and more.”

The Ministry of Transport attributes this to “reasons including the Iron Swords War, which imposed the burden of other, more urgent tasks, including the postponement of elections in local authorities from October 2023 to February 2024 (and in some authorities they have not yet been held), which led to a delay in preparing the required regulations.”

Tel Aviv Municipality is already ready

The Tel Aviv Municipality has prepared for the deadline set by law and announced the enactment of municipal regulations accordingly. Thus, among other things, the number of parking zones in the city will be doubled. As of today, there are seven parking zones in Tel Aviv (five zones and two sub-zones), and they will be increased to fourteen zones. That is, every resident will have to pay parking fees on the blue and white sidewalks in the thirteen zones in which he does not live.

In addition, and in a move similar to other countries, the number of parking exemptions per household will be limited to two. The municipality also announced that starting in January 2025, an annual renewal fee of NIS 500 will be charged for each second parking exemption per household.

“In the current situation, where on-street parking is provided free of charge to all city residents without restrictions, there are large gaps between supply and demand, especially in popular areas,” the Tel Aviv Municipality said. “In addition, the situation encourages private vehicles to be ‘stored’ on the street for long periods of time, and there are households that have three or more parking exemptions. This significantly reduces the turnover of on-street parking and the parking spaces available to residents of the area. The result is a long search for parking spaces on main and side streets, which creates unnecessary traffic congestion and air pollutant emissions.”

According to studies published in recent decades, the Tel Aviv Municipality adds: “Only by managing the demand for parking and reducing it on the street can we complete the development of the bicycle path network, create international-level public transportation, improve walking conditions by creating wide sidewalks and planting trees, adding pedestrian-friendly streets, etc.

“In addition, the revised policy will lead to a more equitable distribution of the city’s limited public parking resources, making it easier for city residents to find parking spaces close to their homes. In addition, it will help encourage the use of alternative modes of transportation to the car for trips within the city, reduce car ownership rates in areas with good public transportation services, and reduce traffic congestion and air pollution.”

The amendment to the law allows local authorities to enact municipal regulations that would put the reform into effect even before 2027. The Jerusalem Municipality is currently working on legislating the required regulations, but it is now doubtful whether it will complete them before 2025. Meanwhile, Israel’s city roads are among the most congested in the world and the situation is only getting worse. The mayors of some municipalities, led by Modi’in Mayor Haim Bibas, have been delaying the implementation of the law, and some in the government say the Transportation Ministry’s current position is due to these pressures.

This article was published in Globes, Israeli Business News – en.globes.co.il – on September 25, 2024.

© Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.