A poll conducted among Chisinau residents shows that 60% support the idea a paid parking system. The survey is part of a broader study that analyzes the implementation of a parking management system in the city and whose results were presented at a round table today.

Mayor Ion Ceban said that all the projects implemented by the municipality in the last two years have included the creation of parking lots on the streets, near parks, green areas or in courtyards. “We have new public parking lots on Ismail Street, Alunelul Park, La Izvor, Dendrariu. On Ghidighici Street, a large parking lot will be created with about 480 slots. Public parking lots are also arranged on land vacated by businesses or where metal garages were previously located”, said the mayor.

Next year, the City Hall plans to allocate 100 million lei for parking spaces, including in the Historic Center, but also for parking hubs at the exits from the city. At the same time, the municipality plans to pilot lanes dedicated to public transport and cyclists on major arteries.

“We estimate public transport will run almost three times faster than at present, which will reduce wait times at stops and encourage residents to choose public transport. At the same time, a feasibility study on electronic ticketing is being developed. I am sorry that in previous years land was given to certain people to create public parking lots, but instead they built markets, shopping malls, gas stations or blocks of flats. Now we are in a situation when the city center, but also other areas, has land to be used for this purpose”, stated the mayor.

The opportunity study presented today has comparatively looked at six European cities which are similar in size to Chisinau and which have experience in managing parking spaces: Bucharest Sector 4, Iasi, Dusseldorf, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius.