Bratislava tells business employees to use public transport to city centre

The Slovak capital’s government raised the parking rates last year to cut down on private car traffic

Last summer, the Bratislava City Council instituted its parking as a service (PAAS system) for parking zones in the city. Its essence is based on having any driver who is a visitor to the central area 2 euros per hour on weekdays and 1 euro per hour on weekends. If it sounds pricey – that’s because it is meant to be a means of discouraging private car traffic and street congestion in the central areas.

For the local government, a visitor is considered any driver who is not registered as a resident in the central area. Understandably, people working in the central area found the new rules and rates to be excessive, so several businesses have raised voices in protest even threatening to leave the area if employees don’t get preferential treatment.

The Bratislava city council does not seem swayed by these complaints, however, and in response suggested that workers who head daily to the downtown area could, and should, use the public transport available. Another alternative is to use the park-and-ride facilities located near major public transit hubs in the periphery, where drivers can leave their cars before continuing on tram or bus.

Changing the commuting mindset of Bratislavans

Peter Bubla, the city's spokesperson, explained, as quoted by SITA, that creating preferential categories for workers was not a practice in any developed European city thus it is not in the cards in Bratislava either. He also suggested in response to the private sector's concerns that companies could offer a public transport contribution to their employees.

The city council recalls that one of the main objectives of the new parking scheme is to improve the availability of parking spaces for local residents. In Bratislava, as in other cities, regulated parking is based on the residency principle.