Parking to become more expensive in Brussels city center

The local council of Brussels has approved new parking regulations for the city center. Parking in the streets will become more expensive as of May 2021. The measure is intended to discourage long-term parking and open up public space.

Brussels has indicated ‘green zones’ and ‘grey zones’ in the city center where parking regimes are different. In the green zones, parking is unlimited and costs 1 euro for the first hour, 2 euros for the second hour, and 1,5 euros for every following hour.

Parking in a grey zone is more expensive and limited in time. Maximum parking time is 4,5 hours. The first hour costs 2 euros, the next three hours 3 euros each, and for the last half hour, car owners pay 1,5 euros.

Long-term parking

By increasing the parking prices, the city hopes to discourage long-term parking, and push drivers to go to public parking lots. “Today, too much public space is used for parking cars, and that’s unacceptable,” says Brussels Alderman for Mobility, Bart Dhondt (Groen). “We would like to use the open space to make Brussels more attractive for residents and visitors.”

Also, the timetable will change. From May 2021 on, paying for parking in the streets will be compulsory from 9 a.m. til 9 p.m. Today, it is until 6 p.m.

Cheaper bicycle facilities

Parking in an event zone will even become more expensive. It will be introduced for the first time for the Christmas fair in the city. Parking in and around the location of ‘Winterpret/Plaisirs d’hiver’ will cost 10 euros per hour and will be limited to 4,5 hours.

People living in Brussels and parking daily in the streets of Brussels can apply for a resident’s card. The first resident’s card costs 10 euros but the price for the second one will go up from 50 euros to 110. Brussels, on the other hand, wants to promote the use of two-wheelers by making bicycle facilities cheaper. The price for a bicycle box subscription will go down from 60 to 10 euros a year.

Clash

Remarkable is that the city of Brussels doesn’t follow the reasoning of Brussels Mobility Minister Elke Van den Brandt (Groen). The Brussels Region recently clashed over the parking reform. Van den Brandt announced she wanted to make the resident’s card more expensive instead of cheaper.

The fact is that parking in Brussels is far from expensive compared to other European cities. Parking in Brussels costs an average of 2 euros an hour, while in Paris, drivers pay at least 4 euros, and in Amsterdam even 7,5.