Porto loses at least 100 million euros annually in potential revenue associated with illegal parking, according to the diagnosis made in the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (PMUS). The document, which will be voted on at the Porto City Council meeting on Tuesday, reveals that illegal parking affects 85 kilometres of roads, representing 12% of the total road network in the city, not being limited to a specific zone but rather disseminated throughout the territory.
The Municipal Police collects annually approximately 15,000 vehicles through towing, equivalent to an average of five vehicles per day. The most frequent situations of illegal parking include vehicles double-parked, especially on roads with more than one lane per direction, on sidewalks, crosswalks and BUS lanes. School establishments are identified as one of the typologies that most stimulate these situations, particularly during entry and exit times of students.
The plan states that there are 71 drop-off and pick-up zones called Kiss & Ride, but the lack of enforcement means that many are occupied by long-term parking for most of the day. The city has 115 parking lots, of which 26 are publicly owned and 89 are private, with a combined capacity of 22,740 spaces, with the majority located within the Via de Cintura Interna (VCI) ring road.
On Tuesday, the Porto City Council will vote on the award of 4.9 million euros for a towing service contract. The Via Livre program, which allows STCP to enforce improper parking on BUS lanes and bus stops, will see its capacity increased to 24 hours and the number of agents will rise from four to eight. The PMUS also includes the creation of a network of peripheral parking facilities within a 300-metre radius of metro and bus stations, with seven fringe parking lots planned.
