Knesset lifts municipal parking price cap

After lengthy discussions, the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee has approved for a second and third reading in the plenum the Municipal Parking Reform Bill, which will become part of the Economic Arrangements Bill that accompanies the budget.

The main clause in the bill lifts the current maximum of NIS 6.30 per hour that municipalities can charge for parking alongside blue and white curbs and in car parks. Municipalities will now be able to charge as much as they want.

In another important change, cities with over 40,000 people, will no longer be allowed to let residents park for free throughout the city but only in the neighborhoods in which they live, although they will be able to offer residents a 30% discount outside of their own neighborhoods.

The changes will only come into full effect in three years after the Ministry of Transport has set new regulations about the sizes of neighborhoods for free parking for residents in large cities and new hourly curbside rates for cities that still want to adhere to a nationally recommended standard price.