Lauwers, Dirk

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Ghent University Academic Bibliography

Parking Trend International – June 2008Prof. Dirk Lauwers, Ghent UniversityChantal Roland, Mobility Administration Brussels Capital-RegionParking in Brussels:Problems and challenges ata turning point for policySummaryUncoordinated responsibilities with regard to parking policiesbetween the Regional Government and local authorities, has ledto a chaotic parking situation. At present the Brussels RegionalGovernment is trying to have adopted a coordinated regional par-king policy plan and to create a Regional Parking Agency. ThisAgency will support the implementation of the new parking poli-cy and manage the new parking system. (on street parking con-trol, management of car parks, dynamic parking guidance androuting). The task division between the Agency with the Munici-palities can be different in each municipality. Collection of theparking fees and retributions will be the responsibility of theRegional Agency. The Agency will pay the municipalities theireffective costs and will pay back their revenues.About the parking problems and their contextThe Brussels Capital-Region is traditionally referred to as theadministrative entity which is one of the three regions in the Federal State of Belgium. As such it has its own legislative body,the Brussels Government and its own parliament. The BrusselsGovernment is amongst other responsible for mobility and themanagement of the main roads (there is no national road in Belgium). So parking policy is to some extent the responsibilityof this government. On the other hand the 19 municipalities situ-ated within the borders of the Capital Region have, of course,also responsibilities: they manage by far the majority of the roads(80% of the network length) and in this way the parking regula-tion of more or less 70% of the on street parking places. As theyalso have major responsibilities for urban development they reg-ulate the public parking facilities developed by the private sectortoo, as well as the parking places with limited access related toofﬁces, shopping and dwellings. The until now uncoordinateddivision of  responsibilities between the Government and nine-teen different local authorities (managed by different politicalparties with different points of view on parking policies) has ledto a chaotic parking situation.About one million people are living in the administrative BrusselsCapital Region, but just like in many other European metropoli-tan areas the urban region around Brussels has expanded. In thecurrent urban area around Brussels some 3 million people are living. The Region is one of the major employment areas in Belgium, but less than half of the people working in Brussels arealso living inside the city. Together with the attractive educationalfunction of Brussels this causes of course a vast number of dailycommuters. As more then 2/3 of the home-work commuters and1/3 of the home-school commuters choose for the car a largenumber of cars (more then 350.000 in the morning peak) driveon the Brussels roads, causing trafﬁc congestion problems andan overpressure on the parking system. The chaotic parking sys-tem itself causes a large number of search trafﬁc. The lack ofparking guidance system is engraving this situation: in the peakhours almost 1/3 of the trafﬁc looks for a parking place, enlarg-ing the congestion on the roads! In 2001 the travel speed on theroads was around 27 km/u and travel time from the boundaries ofthe large urban area to the centre during morning peak increasedwith 26 minutes in the past 10 years. Also the environmentalpressure of the car trafﬁc in Brussels is calling for a new policy:the Kyoto standards for greenhouse gases emissions were trans-lated in the Brussels Regional Development Plan to clear limits tocar trafﬁc: the number of car kilometres on 1990 reference basisshould be reduced with no less than 20% in 2010. Car trafﬁc inBrussels contributes with 65% to the NOx emission, causing theexceeding of the threshold limits and threatening public healthfor inhabitants and other people staying in Brussels several timesa year.Not only the problems for people looking for a spot to park, butalso the larger mobility and urban context is calling for a coordi-nated, sustainable parking policy in Brussels.The first steps made to develop a new parking policyRegarding parking policies the merit of the IRIS plan, the mobilityplan approved by the Brussels Government in 1998, is that it for-mulated a politically sustained coherent vision on parking withina broader vision of the quality of life and multimodal mobility inBrussels and that it  identiﬁed some strategic measures to take.The main goal of the IRIS plan is to stabilise the number of cartrips and to support the shift of surplus trips towards publictransport. Regarding on-street parking the plan wants to limitlong term parking in the city centre and the central business dis-trict and to protect the parking facilities for inhabitants of thecity. The plan also foresees the building of 12 Park-and-Ride(P+R) facilities (the so-called ‘parking de transit’) at the outskirtsof the administrative borders of the Brussels Region ( total 8400parking places). However as the Region lacks the instruments toimplement this vision ten years after the approval of the IRISplan, the problems for people looking for a parking space havenot improved: the poor legibility of the parking system and theovercrowded on-street supply causes a loss of time, congestionand frustration. It causes also wild and illegal parking behaviouron roads as well as on sidewalks, disturbing and even also endan-gering motorised trafﬁc as well as pedestrians and cyclists.Inhabitants are not only confronted with a lack of space to parktheir cars but also with poor liveability of their streets and neigh-bourhoods. And policy makers are lacking a grip on the mobilitymanagement as responsibilities are fragmented and pressure ofcar trafﬁc is growing day by day. What is at stake for the Brussels parking policy?A benchmarking of the parking policy between Brussels and other European cities – using the reference frames of ‘City Park-ing in Europe’ and the COST action 342, described in the Decem-Parking Trend International – June 2008ber issue of Parking Trend International*, a clear tension arisesbetween on the one hand the vision formulated, which placesBrussels on top of the evolution, integrating parking policy notonly in mobility but also in urban development policy (in Brusselslaid down in the so-called IRIS plan for mobility and the PRD‘Plan Regional de Dévelopment’) and on the other hand the poli-cy action, which places Brussels in the bottom of the pack ofEuropean cities with only very limited implementation of parkingcontrol and regulation (also in the Central Business District(CBD) and city centre more than 80% of the on street parking isfree parking) and a supply that relies for a large extent on on-street parking (75% of the parking supply in Brussels is on-streetparking), lacking sufﬁcient and modern parking buildings andunderground parking facilities).  Today the implementation of the vision about on-street parkingincluded in the IRIS plan designed in 1998, namely to limit longterm parking in the city centre and the central business districtand to protect the parking facilities for inhabitants of the city, isstill at stake. And the challenges regarding the off street publicparking facilities are also high: • to install a dynamic parking guidance system referring to thepublic car parks;• to rise the capacity of the existing the P+R facilities;• to promote the parking facilities for the inhabitants of the city.A recent new step taken: the principle of coordinatedregional parking policyThe Brussels Capital City Regional Government agreed the princi-ple of a coordinated regional parking policy very recently (lastFebruary). The Region will be responsible for the formulation ofthe on-street parking policy: i.e. harmonising the parking zonesand the parking tariffs and deﬁning the categories of exception onthe general parking regulation in the different zones. The munic-ipalities will elaborate local parking implementation plans.In the Regional parking policy plan the Region will stipulate: themaximum number of on street parking places on regional andlocal road for each municipality,  he number of regulated parkingplaces per zone, the minimum number of  reserved parking places(for disabled drivers, medical services, deliveries,…) and the tar-iffs per zone. The Municipality will elaborate a local parkingimplementation plan that will have to be approved by the Region,detailing the policy plan on street level and stipulating the differ-ent actions (infrastructural, parking regulation,…) and elaborat-ing a ﬁnancial prognosis of the measures to be implemented. The decree proposal that is being approved stipulates three kindsof zones for on-street parking:• red zones in which everybody will have to pay for a parkingspace;• green zones in which everybody will have to pay, except forinhabitants, medical and social carers;• blue zones: free parking but limited to two hours, except forspecial categories.The rest of public domain will be free and unlimited parking,within the limits of the trafﬁc regulation.• The decree also ﬁxes the tariffs. The Government can also stipulate a maximum allowed parkingtime in these zones, in order to improve the parking rotation.From policy to actionThe decree proposed by the Brussels Minister of Mobility PascalSmet and approved by the Brussels Government has not only outlined the principle policy coordination but also included thecreation of a Regional Parking Agency. The task of this agencywill be twofold: supporting the implementation of the new park-ing policy (consultancy function, preparation of policy docu-ments) and managing the new parking system ( parking control,management of car parks, dynamic parking guidance and rou-ting). The tasks arrangement between the Agency and the Muni-cipalities can vary in each municipality but will be deﬁned in sucha way that there is only one organisation responsible for the park-ing control for all the on-street parking in that municipality, forthe regional roads as well as for municipal roads. A Municipalitycan decide to delegate the parking control of her territory to theAgency. However, the collection of the parking fees and retribu-tions will be the responsibility of the Regional Agency. Indeed theParking Trend International – June 200882%13%3% 2%Breakdown of on-street parking supply – November 2003freepaidreserveddeliveries* City Parking in Europe, some lessons learnt from an Interreg IIIC project,Dirk Lauwers, Parking Trend International December 2007, page 26-31,EPA, KolnSource: Data Brussels Mobility.choice has been made for a regional retribution as it is the onlyway to obtain uniformity of the tariffs over the whole territory.The revenues of that retribution belong by deﬁnition to theAgency. The Agency will pay the municipalities their effectivecosts (e.g. if they perform the parking control) and also keeps foritself an allowance for the costs made for the collection of theparking fees and the follow-up of no payment of parking fees. Itwill also count an overhead of 15% on the income to guaranteethe functioning of the Parking Agency. This percentage is lowerthan the part of the parking supply alongside the regional roads.  Enforcement of the conformity to the regional parkingpolicy planThe decree provides a substitution mechanism with regard to themunicipalities in case they oppose in the Regional Parking PolicyPlan. The region can substitute the municipality by taking over itsresponsibility if it neglects the implementation of the RegionalPlan at three different moments : • with the elaboration of the local implementation plan;• with the implementation of the local plan;• with the organisation of the parking control for the regulatedzones.Tasks and frame for the parking agencyThe main tasks for the Parking Agency as described in the decreeare:• elaboration and maintenance of a database, for use by bothwell the Region and the municipalities;• elaboration and advice regarding the parking policy plan andthe parking implementation plans;• performing the management and control of the parking policy(at ﬁrst on the regional roads but possibly also on the muni-cipal roads in case of substitution or on demand of themunicipalities);• organisation of a breakdown service;• elaboration of a regional parking routing system;• organisation, management and control of all public and tran-sit car parks owned by the Region;• organisation of the use of private parking facilities duringnon working hours;• provision of parking facilities and signalisation for touristcars and for trucks;• development of a supply of secured, public and covered bikesheds.Parking Trend International – June 2008Ungeklärte Zuständigkeiten zwischen regionalen Regierungs-behörden und Kommunalbehörden bei der Parkpolitik haben inBrüssel zu chaotischen Parkverhältnissen geführt. Vor kurzem hatdie Brüsseler Regionalregierung eine koordinierte regionale Park-politik verabschiedet. Nach dem neuen Plan soll eine RegionaleParkagentur die Umsetzung der neuen Parkpolitik unterstützenund das neue Parksystem managen. Dazu gehören die Kontrolledes Straßenparkens, das Parkhaus-Management und dynamischePark- und Verkehrsleitsysteme). Die Aufgabenverteilung zwischender Agentur und den Stadtverwaltungen kann je nach Stadtbezirkvariieren. Für die Einziehung der Parkgebühren und Bußgelder wirddie Agentur zuständig sein. Diese wird den Stadtverwaltungenihren tatsächlichen Aufwand vergüten.Las responsabilidades descoordinadas respecto a las políticas deestacionamiento entre el Gobierno Regional y las autoridades loca-les, ha llevado a una situación caótica en cuanto a estaciona-miento. Hace poco el gobierno Regional de Bruselas ha adoptadoun plan de política regional de estacionamiento coordinada. En elplan, la Agencia de Estacionamiento Regional apoyará la imple-mentación de una nueva política de estacionamiento y admi-nistrará el nuevo sistema de estacionamiento (control de estacio-namiento en la calle, gestión de parques de estacionamiento,orientación dinámica respecto a estacionamiento y asignación deruta). La división de tareas entre la Agencia y las Municipalidadespuede variar de una municipalidad para otra. El cobro de los pre-cios y retribuciones de estacionamiento serán de la responsabili-dad de la Agencia Regional. La Agencia resarcirá a las municipa-lidades de sus gastos efectivos.Parking Trend International – June 2008The decree stipulates the headlines of the organisation of theParking Agency. It concerns a public limited company, workingon the basis of a ﬁve years management agreement with the gov-ernment, ﬁnanced mainly by the parking retributions and theadministrative sanctions. The turning point: parking policy as a key element for anew mobility culture in BrusselsThe Brussels Government has set up a clear timing: at themoment the business plan for the Agency is under study. TheAgency should be operational in 2009, without deploying aneffective management of the regulated parking yet; full operationwith on-street parking control should be starting in 2010.The development of a coherent parking policy for the whole ofthe political and administrative fragmented city region is fairlyambitious. To develop an efﬁcient parking system, legible for thecar drivers searching for a parking place and an effective man-agement of this system and getting grip on parking behaviour, isno less ambitious, taking into account the unstructured and con-gested current situation.But the ambition goes beyond the functioning of the parking sys-tem itself: the new parking policy can be seen as the cornerstonein the development of a new mobility culture, as it is described  inthe Green Paper on Urban Mobility, recently published for publicdebate by DGTREN. But more than that it is described in thisPaper and demonstrated by some ‘fashionable’ urban policiesrelying on new instruments as congestion toll (see London,Stockholm and others). Brussels relies on the existing instru-ment of parking policy and management to reach a more sus-tainable mobility and city. Good practice of parking policy inEuropean cities as Vienna (implemented in the 90’s, minus 30%of car trafﬁc in the central area) and Amsterdam (recently imple-mented, minus 20% of car trafﬁc in the central area) shows thatparking policy is the largest single management tool in modernmobility management. Good practice revealed in the ‘City park-ing in Europe’ project shows two critical success factors for park-ing policy:• First a clear set of policy goals, for example priority for park-ing needs of inhabitants.• Second having in place a dedicated organisation to parkingthat integrates the implementation of the ﬁnancial as well aslegal tools. Business model based approaches such asAntwerp, Bologna, Malaga and more and more others, showthat parking can be a motor for urban development and avaluable economic asset for the local community and thatparking contributes to the cities budget instead of takingmoney off this budget.So the approval of the decree in Brussels aiming at a coherentparking policy and the creation of a Parking Agency holds aunique chance to join the good practice of metropolitan integrat-ed parking management in Europe and the growing number ofurban city regions with a more sustainable mobility culture.The Brussels Capital City Regional Government agreed the prin-ciple of a coordinated regional parking policy very recently. Thedecision also included the creation of a Regional Parking Agency.The task of this agency will be twofold: supporting the imple-mentation of the new parking policy and managing the new park-ing system (parking control, management of car parks, dynamicparking guidance and routing).  The tasks arrangement betweenthe Agency and the Municipalities can vary in each municipality,but collection of the parking fees and retributions will be theresponsibility of the Regional Agency. The Agency will pay themunicipalities their effective costs. The approval of the decree holds a unique chance not only toobtain a more efﬁcient parking system for the users but also toobtain a more sustainable mobility culture in Brussels and toameliorate the quality of life in the city. ■En matière de politique de stationnement, le manque de coordina-tion des responsabilités entre le Gouvernement Régional et lesautorités locales a induit une situation de stationnement chaoti-que. Actuellement, le Gouvernement de la Région bruxelloise tentede faire adopter un plan coordonné de politique régionale de par-king et de créer une Agence Régionale de Stationnement. Lors desa mise en place, l’ Agence soutiendra la mise en oeuvre de la nou-velle politique de stationnement et gérera les différents volets dunouveau système de parking: contrôle du stationnement dans larue, gestion des parkings automobiles, guidage et fléchage dyna-miques de stationnement. La répartition des tâches entre l’Agenceet les Municipalités pourra varier d’une commune à l’autre. La col-lecte des frais de stationnement incombera à l’Agence Régionale.C’est également l’Agence qui paiera leurs frais réels aux municipa-lités et leur rétrocédera leurs recettes.

Parking in Brussels: Problems and challenges at a turning point for policy

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Parking in Brussels: Problems and challenges at a turning point for policy

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