In the video: A test drive of the light rail on the Tel Aviv-Bat Yam line (still photography: Reuven Castro, video photography: Yotam Ronen)
The price of parking in central Tel Aviv will double today (Sunday) for non-residents. As advertised in Walla! Last year, the rate will jump from NIS 6.70 to NIS 12 an hour. At the same time, the hours of free parking in those areas will be reduced.
Before the decision went into effect, about 2,000 new road signs were placed on streets where the price will change, those located in zones 1, 2 and 4. Instead of the old ones, which caused confusion among visitors to the city, photography and consultation with friends in an attempt to evade a fine, there will now be road signs that include a detailed table of the hourly parking price. "The change in the wording of the road sign stems, among other things, from suggestions that arose from the public to use tabular information as is customary in many places around the world," the municipality explained.
The table will be even more necessary due to the change in payment hours. In the price increase areas, parking on Fridays and holiday eves will be paid until 17:00 and not until 13:00, and payment for blue and white parking on weekdays will be extended from 19:00 to 21:00. Parking until 17:00 will remain exclusively for residents of the area as it is today.
The price will be doubled for non-residents. Parking in Tel Aviv (Photo: Nir Ben Tovim, Nir Ben-Tovim)
The move comes in an attempt to alleviate the parking shortage suffered by residents living in busy areas. This, of course, is in addition to the additional payment that will reach the municipality's coffers. "Raising parking rates is a necessary step in the current situation where the parking shortage is increasing and supply is outstripping demand," the city said. "Changing the balance point will make it easier for residents who need public parking to find parking near their homes. In addition, since the price of parking on the street is currently much cheaper than its real price, there is an excess of demand that increases the parking load and traffic searching for parking."
As the plan began to be promoted, city officials explained to Walla! Because the current cost of an hour of parking does not match the real price. In Ahuzat HaHof parking lots, for example, the rate for non-residents is NIS 16 per hour from morning to afternoon, and in private parking lots it can increase to tens of shekels. The gap has created incentives for arriving by private vehicle and long-term parking in blue and white, and reduces the available spaces for residents.
The parking shortage in the city has also increased in recent years following the promotion of plans to reduce mobility and dependence on private vehicles, including paving bicycle paths, widening sidewalks, allocating parking spaces for shared vehicles (AutoTel vehicles), and the lengthening light rail work. In total, in the five years preceding the plan, 2,200 blue and white parking spaces were removed, while 11,900 were added in private lots. The consequences were, among other things, the phenomenon of renting private parking spaces at exorbitant prices.
More in Walla!
Tel Aviv Municipality promotes: The price of parking for non-residents will double
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The new tariffs (Photo: official website, Tel Aviv Municipality)
The municipality emphasized that even after the rate increase, the prices of blue and white parking for visitors to the city center will be 25% cheaper than the prices of municipal parking lots in Ahuzat Hof, and even cheaper than the private parking lots spread throughout the city. Residents holding a valid parking permit will not be required to change their habits.
"Parking is a scarce product, especially in the city center," said Tel Aviv-Yafo's deputy mayor and transportation portfolio holder, Meital Lehavi. "We hope that the increase in blue and white parking rates for visitors from outside the city will lead to a reduction in the entry of private vehicles into the city or to the fact that those arriving by car will prefer to park in commercial parking lots rather than street parking. This is an important step that provides a response to the need for smarter and more efficient management of the limited parking pool on the city's streets, which is made possible thanks to a change in the Arrangements Law that we are adopting, and I have no doubt that other cities will follow suit."
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