The Vilnius City Council on Wednesday decided to increase parking fees in the city and adjust some of the toll zones.
From July 1 next year, the parking fee in the most expensive blue zone will increase from €2.50 per hour to €3.50 for the first hour. The subsequent parking in the blue zone will cost €4 per hour.
Meanwhile, parking of electric cars will be free for the first hour in the blue zone. It will cost €3.5 for the second hour and €4 for the third and subsequent hours.
In the red zone, the parking price will increase from €1.5 to €2.5 per hour, from €0.6 to €1 in the yellow zone, and from €0.3 to €0.5 in the green zone.
The Vilnius City Council also agreed to adjust the boundaries of certain parking zones, with the most significant reduction to the blue zone.
In addition, the city authorities have introduced a new white zone, which extends to the rest of the city not covered by the previously existing four parking zones. The parking in the white zone, which mainly covers residential areas, will cost €0.2 per hour, but only if the local community wants it.
The municipality has decided that people who have their residence declared in the white zone will not be charged for the parking of their first car, but will have to take out an electronic permit issued by JUDU (Susisiekimo Paslaugos). For the second car, the parking permit will cost €6 per month or €72 per year.
Jonas Damidavičius, head of Mobility Transformation at the municipal company JUDU, previously told LRT.lt that the main motivation behind the increased parking fees was to reduce parking occupancy. It is particularly high in the Old Town, where almost 100 percent of the spaces are always occupied, while the aim is to maintain 70 percent occupancy.
“When the occupancy rate of parking spaces in the city is approaching or exceeding 85 percent, we need to take steps to reduce the occupancy rate somewhat, to maintain a threshold so that if you want to park your car, it does not cause additional congestion and pollution, so that everyone finds a space,” said Damidavičius.
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