Since April, the free parking
time in city parking lots near social facilities such as schools,
kindergartens, and hospitals will be increased from 15 to 30 minutes. The project
will be implemented at 22 municipal parking lots with 490 parking spaces. These
spots will be marked with blue markings and yellow information boards. This was
announced by Ildar Shakirov, Deputy Head of the Executive Committee of Kazan, at
the Business Monday meeting.
«This initiative is being
implemented at the request of Kazan residents. There have been appeals from
residents - parents who bring their children to schools, kindergartens and
hospitals, who arrive and find the parking spaces occupied by residents from
nearby houses. Twenty-two municipal parking lots will be used for this
experiment and we will continue to work in dialogue with residents», ‒ said Ilsur Metshin.
Presently, Kazan has more than
8,700 parking spaces available at 197 locations. To ensure a balanced
distribution of parking spaces, a differentiated pricing system has been
implemented, according to Ildar Shakirov. The rates range from 30 to 130 rubles
per hour, while weekends and holidays are free.
At 16 of the locations, the
occupancy rate reaches 95
‒100% during peak hours. Two
locations along Tolstogo Street and Akhtyamova Street have occupancy rates
below 30%.
«At this level of parking
demand, drivers are forced to search for an available parking space and, if
they can't find one, they are forced to violate traffic regulations», ‒ said Ildar Shakirov. Due to this, starting from March
24, the parking fee will be adjusted at these 18 locations. It will affect
1,213 parking spots, which is approximately 14% of the overall number.
Today, the number of registered cars in the city is 485,000, and level of
car ownership is 368 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants.
The Mayor emphasized that municipal parking policies should remain flexible
in setting tariffs. «This is an ongoing task that requires constant monitoring
of traffic activity and working in dialogue with residents. We will continue this
work», ‒ he concluded.