So that the parking space is never empty

Parking fees should be introduced to improve traffic management, and not to make money, it is emphasized in the recommendations approved by the Ministry of Transport. The agency explains to regional and municipal authorities that when setting parking tariffs, the average per capita income of citizens should be taken into account, recommends increasing prices when parking lots are filled by more than 85%, and also reducing the cost of parking for owners of electric vehicles and motorcycles.

The Ministry of Transport, by its order, approved methodological recommendations for calculating tariffs for paid parking lots (street and permanent). The document, the development of which is provided for by the law “On the Organization of Road Traffic,” will be sent to the regions. The draft recommendations were presented back in 2018, Kommersant reported about this.

Making a profit for the parking owner should not be the purpose of introducing a fee, the document emphasizes. The main task is to ensure “accessibility of territories and capital construction projects”, as well as to increase the efficiency of traffic management. In this regard, “it is recommended to provide a flexible tariff policy that provides the greatest socio-economic effect for the transport system and society.”

In street parking, officials advise introducing a fee if more than 85% of the existing parking spaces are occupied. When calculating the tariff, you should take into account the average per capita income in the subject or municipality, as well as data from opinion polls on the willingness to pay for car placement. If such data is not available, the Ministry of Transport proposes to use a formula that includes, among other things, the tariff for travel on public transport. If technically possible, the ministry recommends using “dynamic pricing depending on the level of current demand” – that is, increasing or decreasing the price in real time depending on the number of parked cars.

If the fee has already been introduced, it is recommended to use a tariff that ensures occupancy of 70–85% of parking spaces. The city authorities, for example, increase prices for parking lots when their occupancy exceeds 90%. This indicator must be assessed monthly or quarterly, and the amount of the fee can change in increments of 5 rubles. The assessment, the document says, should be carried out using “technical means” operating in automatic mode (detectors, sensors, video cameras), and also analyze data on transactions for paying for parking sessions. If there are no such possibilities, you can carry out “visual measurements” at least twice a day, in the morning, in the evening and at night.

The Ministry of Transport proposes to use decreasing and increasing coefficients as part of the calculation. For example, the former should be used in parking lots near metro stations, large transfer stations or railway stations (to encourage car owners to use public transport), as well as in parking lots located near “cultural and community facilities and in recreational areas.” The tariff may also be reduced for certain vehicles, such as electric vehicles or motorcycles. The Ministry of Transport proposes to use a progressive price scale in parking lots in public and business areas to increase the “turnover” of spaces. The department advises owners of off-street parking to take into account the occupancy of parking lots in the adjacent territory: the price should be such that drivers strive to use off-street parking.

“Everything that is said in the recommendations is for the most part a copy of the experience of Moscow,” notes the head of the Probok.net expert center Alexander Shumsky. Mr. Shumsky did not support the recommendation to introduce dynamic pricing. “If the driver has already arrived on business, work or a meeting, he will still park, even if the price at that moment has become 30% higher,” the expert believes. “After all, in any case, he needs to leave his car. I heard that Moscow is going to conduct an experiment on dynamic pricing.” In turn, the idea of ​​taking into account the average income in municipalities does not seem optimal to the chief specialist of the St. Petersburg traffic management directorate, Dmitry Popov: “Parking fees are being introduced for visitors. In St. Petersburg, for example, the level of salaries in a particular education may be low, but people from elite areas with high salaries come to the local parking lot near the business center. The tariff calculated based on the average salary of residents of the municipality will not stop them – the parking lot will be filled to 100%.”

Ivan Buranov