Evaluations show a massive decline in parking in all districts – more space and less car traffic – diverse use of the freed areas
Vienna (OTS) – Happy Birthday Park Picker! March 1 marks the anniversary of the introduction of the area-wide parking sticker for the first time. With the largest expansion in the history of the city, the parking space managed area was almost doubled in one fell swoop and the patchwork rug put to an end. The first results of the evaluations are now available just in time for the anniversary. And they speak a clear language: The nationwide sticker is a complete success story.
“We promised a lot and kept everything. With the introduction of the sticker throughout Vienna, we have gained a lot of space in public space, significantly reduced both commuter traffic and traffic looking for a parking space, and thus reached a milestone for climate protection. This is also shown by the results of the evaluation: Far fewer cars without Viennese license plates and a clearly noticeable reduction in parking space utilization in the extension districts, at hotspots even by up to 68%! This means that there is now more space for greening and unsealing projects or for cycling. For the future, this means a promising increase in the attractiveness of public space and a major increase in quality of life,” says City Councilor for Mobility Ulli Sima.
Proactive approach against the domino effect
It was very clear that only a comprehensive parking sticker for the whole of Vienna could prevent displacement effects. Because as soon as a district introduces a sticker, there is an immediate “domino effect” and the adjacent district is parked over. “The history of parking space management over the last few decades has shown this in a painful manner and it was therefore only logical to finally extend the sticker to the whole of Vienna,” says Sima, who thanks the districts for the good and intensive cooperation and adds: “The System is only as good as it is controlled. Many thanks to the employees of MA 67!” The income from parking space management goes into the expansion of public transport.
“Implementing the comprehensive parking sticker for all of Vienna in the first year of government was an important and strong step in terms of climate protection. The figures now available prove this impressively. Since the introduction, we have created more space in public space on the one hand and an incentive to switch to alternative forms of mobility on the other,” says Bettina Emmerling, Chairwoman of the NEOS Vienna Club.
Doubling of the parking sticker areas
With the introduction of the nationwide parking sticker, the districts of Floridsdorf, Donaustadt, Liesing and Hietzing were also integrated into the parking space management system, and in Simmering that part was now also included that was previously unmanaged and suffered from excessive parking. With the expansion in the previous year, the cultivated areas were doubled in one step. An evaluation of the measures is now available for each of the extension districts.
Floridsdorf: 2/3 non-Vienna number plates less, up to – 68% occupancy
For the 21st district, the parking sticker brought a reduction in the evening parking space utilization in the survey areas from 74.9% to 63.8% (20-22 h). Morning occupancy dropped even more significantly, from around 71.7% to 52.7%, a drop of around 19%. At various hotspots in the district, the minus is sometimes even greater: In Shuttleworthstrasse, for example, the occupancy rate fell from 99.9% to 63% in the morning, a minus of around 37%. Around the Strebersdorf train station, utilization fell even more dramatically: by a full 68.5%! (98.1% to 29.6%).
The considerable decrease in parking space utilization in the district could be determined, although in the period of the before-after evaluation the district population grew by 5%. The number of vehicles without Viennese license plates was also drastically reduced by the parking sticker. While it used to be up to 20.3% of parked vehicles, it is now only 7.5%. A drop of around two-thirds.
The space gained now offers many new uses for public space. The district has already taken action in this regard and has planned, among other things, the comprehensive, climate-friendly redesign of Schleifgasse. 18 new trees and additional greenery on an area of 450 m² promise a completely new quality of stay. A climate-friendly redesign is also planned for Anton-Böck-Strasse: widening sidewalks, new trees and spacious green areas are intended to improve the quality of stay on site. Additional greening is also planned in Siegfriedgasse, new trees will improve the microclimate here in the future.
Donaustadt: 70% fewer non-Viennese license plates, up to -60% occupancy
In Donaustadt, the positive effects of the Pickerl expansion were already anticipated and the largest cycling offensive in the history of the district was decided, which is currently in full swing. More than 16 kilometers of new connections through the district are to be built as part of the offensive. A milestone for climate-friendly mobility in the Danube city.
The results of the evaluation confirm the bold approach: The use of parking spaces in the district at hotspots such as Industriestraße/Lange Allee fell by around 53% in the morning, from 101.7% to 48.3%. In Kaisermühlen, the pick brought a reduction from 100% to 62.7%.
On average for the surveyed areas, the occupancy of the parking spaces in the morning fell from 76.1% in the previous study to 62.3% after the introduction of the parking sticker. A drop of around 14%. It should be noted that the omission of a sticker introduction would have made the parking space situation even worse, which is confirmed by experience from previous expansions. A displacement effect could be prevented and, in return, significantly more space was gained in public space.
The proportion of non-Viennese license plates fell from peak values of over 20% to 6.2%. A reduction of around 70%.
Liesing: 89% fewer cars with non-Viennese license plates
In Liesing, too, the positive effects of the introduction of the Pickerl are visible. While the previous study found a parking space utilization of 76.1% on working days in the morning, this value has now fallen to 58.2%. This means that parking space management in the mornings resulted in around 18% less parking space utilization in the areas examined. In the individual hotspots, the drop in utilization is sometimes much higher: In Siebenhirten, for example, the introduction brought a minus of over 40%, the utilization fell from 96.6% to 55.9% in the morning. In Alt Erlaa, too, parking space fell by a significant 32%, with occupancy falling from 98.2% to 66% in the evenings.
Particularly noteworthy in Liesing is the decline in the proportion of vehicles with non-Viennese license plates. In the previous study, these accounted for around 37% of the occupied parking spaces, but now it is only 4%. That’s a reduction of 89%!
In order to use the space gained, the district started Agenda 21/23, a participatory process with the opportunity for citizens to register ideas for the entire district. In addition, the MA18 was commissioned to develop a higher-level cycle path concept for Liesing.
A new two-way cycle path has already been implemented to develop the urban expansion area Carree Atzgersdorf, including a newly laid tree-lined avenue and 400 m² unsealed area in Atzgersdorfer Straße.
Hietzing: 4 out of 5 non-Viennese cars are gone
A comparable picture can also be seen in the 13th district. Occupancy in the examined areas dropped by over 16% in the evening.
The previous study showed an occupancy rate of the parking spaces of 77.5%, after the introduction of parking space management this value is only 61.3%. Significant improvements can also be observed in the individual hotspots: For example in Ober St.Veit, where parking spaces fell from 99.2% to 70.8%, which corresponds to a reduction of over 28%.
Before the introduction, one fifth of the parking spaces were occupied by vehicles with non-Vienna license plates, now it is only 4%. 4 out of 5 parked vehicles without Viennese license plates have thus disappeared from public space. This means less commuter traffic and less traffic looking for a parking space and underlines the success of the measure. The space gained is also to be used in Hietzing: for example, the Altgasse in the center of Hietzing is to be redesigned. The project is currently being planned on the basis of the results of public participation. Other transformations are already in the pipeline, such as the redesign of Lainzer Platz.
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Questions & contact:
Can Guven
Media spokesman StRin Sima
0676811881350
Can-paul.gueven@wien.gv.at