Graz city government discusses higher parking rates for longer cars

If you park longer, you pay more. The Graz city government is now thinking of this principle in a new dimension, namely the spatial one: The Greens, who form a coalition with the KP and SP, propose that residents with permanent parking stickers should pay more if their car exceeds a certain length. The argument: Longer cars take up more of the limited urban space, jutting out over parking lots and thus blocking streets and sidewalks.

“At the moment, this idea is only being discussed. If implemented, exceptions would also be planned for families and tradespeople who need larger vehicles,” says Karl Dreisiebner, chairman of the Graz Greens.

Legislative change necessary

The German city of Freiburg im Breisgau came up with the ideas for Graz: A corresponding regulation will come into force there on April 1st. Long-term parkers then have to pay the “reduced tariff” of 240 euros for cars under 4.2 meters. With a vehicle length of 4.2 to 4.7 meters, 360 euros are due, everything over that costs 480 euros per year. Three examples from the VW family: The lowest price is paid for an Up, the classic Golf has a basic rate of 360 euros. The VW Touareg falls into the most expensive category because it is 4.88 meters long.

VCÖ spokesman Christian Gratzer can get a lot out of the idea: “You have to look at the size limits. The thrust should be to make parking more expensive for oversized vehicles such as pickups.” It remains to be seen whether increases like in Freiburg, where 120 or 240 euros more have to be paid for longer cars, will actually discourage people from buying larger cars. “But it would create justice,” says Gratzer.

According to ÖAMTC lawyer Matthias Wolf, it is doubtful whether Graz is allowed to make such a regulation at all. “The parking fee law of the state of Styria specifies what municipalities can use to determine the amount of the parking fee. Currently, only the parking duration is provided as a basis,” says Wolf. For fees based on vehicle length, a change in the law is needed. In Upper Austria, too, a provincial law regulates municipal parking fees. Here, too, tariffs based on vehicle length are currently not anchored in law.

Verkehrslandesrat Günther Steinkellner (FP) responded to OÖN’s request with a clear rejection of parking tariffs based on vehicle length: “From the NoVA to insurance and billing at the gas pump, there are already classified billing models. There is no need for additional, arbitrary and unverifiable parameters that a only make a functioning concept more complex than necessary,” says the state councillor.

The cities are apparently not interested anyway: According to the responsible Deputy Mayor Tina Blöchl (SP), a system like that in Freiburg im Breisgau is not an issue in Linz, they currently want to digitize and simplify the long-term parking system for citizens and administration. The responsible Steyr city councilor Judith Ringer (VP) is not enthusiastic either: “If you create and control the necessary exceptions, for example for families, the costs for the additional administrative work would probably be higher than the income,” she says.

author

Valentin Bayer

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