Prague parking gets big changes

There will be changes to parking in Prague 3 and 7 starting Feb. 1. New pay zones will involve more than 25,000 parking spaces in those districts. There will not be much change for residents with long-term parking. The change will be felt mainly by visitors to these districts. In July, Prague 4 will join the system.

Residents of both neighborhoods will not have to do anything because of the transition to the new system. Their parking authorization will automatically be switched to the electronic system.

The marking system on streets will change. In addition to blue areas there newly be violet zones where visitors and residents can park together. Green areas are only for visitors. Vertical signs for all parking areas are finished, but some lines on the asphalt are still missing.

There will be a change in parking at intersections due to the new zone design, Five meters will be kept free ahead of pedestrian crossings to increase safety.

Also as of Feb. 1, drivers should not have a card behind the windshield confirming paid residential parking. The cards are no longer valid and can be seen as something that interferes with visibility, according to City Hall.

City vehicles equipped with a camera will be used to check whether cars have up-to-date permission to park by scanning registration details from the car. The vehicles will monitor up to 20,000 parked cars per day.

The expansion of parking zones will reach Prague 4 as of July 1. Prague 4 has been one of the last central areas for free parking in the city. Signs and pavement markings need to be put in place. There should also be a new P + R parking lot at the Congress Center with 300 spots.

Another change is the rise of free parking for cars using car sharing. The cars will be allowed to stay anywhere in Prague temporarily without the operators having to pay for parking. Some restrictions apply.

Car sharing is not to be confused with ride sharing. In car sharing, people use a phone app to rent a car that is parked on the street and then leave it someplace else for another person to use. These cars must be registered with the city for the exemption to be valid. Currently, around 250 cars are registered in Prague to be used with car sharing.

City Hall announced on its website that people who have unused scratch coupons for parking that will no longer be valid after Feb. 1 can get a refund by going to the city administrative building Škodův palác between Feb. 1 and April 30. The person returning the tickets, if they are not who they were issued to, needs an authorization from the purchaser. Refunds will be by money transfer.

Zones in Prague began to operate in 1996 in parts of Prague 1 and were subsequently extended to the whole of Prague 1, 2, 7, and most of Prague 3. The zones were extended to Prague 5, 6 and 8 in 2016, and expanded in 2017. Zones are also run by the Town Hall in Prague 13, 16 and 22.

A complete plan for new zones is at www.parkujvklidu.cz (ENG).