The Impact of Free Parking on Budapest’s Driving Community

The free parking measure introduced on 6 April had a significant impact on traffic in Budapest over the past few weeks. In order to support more effective protection against the pandemic, the government introduced free parking in public areas of major Hungarian cities, which is expected to remain in effect until the end of the state of emergency.

In light of the epidemiological situation, the purpose of the regulation is to encourage people to use cars instead of public transport wherever possible, thereby increasing the opportunity for physical distancing. As a result, free parking led to increased car traffic in the days following the announcement.

In the weeks before the measure was introduced, car traffic in Budapest had already undergone an extremely significant decline. In the second half of March, the maximum daily traffic did not even exceed the level usually seen during the quietest period of the year. Traffic levels can be estimated using statistics from the Waze application, TomTom, and Budapest Közút. In the week following the announcement of the state of emergency and preventive restrictions on 11 March, the number of daily active Waze users fell from the average of 18,000 per day to 9,000. In the following week, this number dropped even further, with only 6,000 users actively using the application each day. Statistics from Budapest Közút, based on bridge traffic, showed even lower estimates: according to their data, traffic in Budapest fell by nearly 40% in the second half of March.

The decline in car traffic is also confirmed by statistics from the Rollet application, which enables drive-through vehicle payment and contactless parking. The number of parking sessions made with Rollet fell significantly in the second half of March: following the official announcement by the Hungarian government, the number of parking sessions in Budapest dropped by 65% compared to the period before the pandemic. This suggests that Budapest users only left their homes when necessary, thereby contributing to slowing the spread of the pandemic. Rollet and Star Park Group jointly offered an 80% discount in Star Park car parks in Budapest to help those who were unable to work from home.

As a consequence of the decision to introduce free parking, however, more people got behind the wheel again, leading to a 10–15% increase in car traffic during the first weeks of April, according to Wazestats, TomTom, and Budapest Közút statistics. Although traffic levels remained significantly lower than before the pandemic, reaching only 63–68% of average traffic levels, some parts of the city centre saw a much larger increase. According to TomTom’s locally segmented data, traffic rose more sharply in certain areas after the introduction of free parking: in some parking zones of the capital, traffic growth exceeded 50%.

The controversy surrounding free parking stems partly from the fact that the interests of local residents may be negatively affected. As a result of increased car traffic, fewer parking spaces are available for local residents, and the number of illegal parking incidents has also increased.

The pandemic situation presents numerous challenges for urban transport. The consequences of the measures introduced in response to it may have a major impact on the future of transport in Budapest, as more and more major cities turn towards safer alternative mobility solutions.

Sources used in the article:

https://magyarkozlony.hu/dokumentumok/a67ce792810ae64f0fa5758c88c5876a95204b4e/megtekintes
https://www.portfolio.hu/ingatlan/20200409/megugrott-az-autosforgalom-az-ingyenes-parkolas-ota-425322
http://wazestats.com/active.php?city=7
https://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/traffic-index/budapest-traffic/