Work is being carried out in the Public Procurement and Municipal Investments Department of Bolesławiec City Hall. Arrangements are also under way with Powiat Bolesławiecki concerning the municipal government’s takeover of some county roads located in the city centre.
The objectives determining the establishment of a paid parking zone are to ensure the availability of vacant parking spaces and increase vehicle turnover in the city centre. During a field inspection, a relatively high concentration of vehicles was observed in central Bolesławiec. This situation made it difficult, and sometimes impossible, to find a vacant place to leave a vehicle in the city centre.
Introducing parking charges will significantly increase vehicle turnover in individual parking spaces. At the same time, the problem of drivers leaving vehicles in places not intended for this purpose and of long-term parking by people who do not live in the area of the planned paid parking zone will be partially reduced.
The scope of the Paid Parking Zone should be treated as proposed. It is optimal in terms of closing the zone and creating a self-contained area in which the introduction of a fee-collection mechanism will significantly reduce the shortage of parking spaces and clearly increase parking turnover.
The total number of parking spaces within the proposed zone and in designated car parks was used to calculate the forecast efficiency of the paid parking zone in Bolesławiec. The number of parking spaces in the proposed area is 1,132.
Proposed paid parking zone
The boundaries of the paid parking area should be based on natural or artificial obstacles, such as rivers, railway lines and transit roads. This is intended to prevent parked vehicles from “escaping” and “spilling over” onto streets adjacent to the area covered by paid parking.
The road network in Bolesławiec forms a distinctive “ring” surrounding the city. It consists of county roads (the former voivodeship roads nos. 297 and 363). Importantly, it is clearly “cut through” by streets managed by the Bolesławiec County Board, namely Karola Miarki Street and Żwirki i Wigury Street (located east of the town hall).
Additional distinctive features that can be taken into account when designating the proposed paid parking zone include:
- to the north: a railway line located partly on an embankment
- to the east: Mickiewicza Street, which, together with the park, separates the city’s service area from its residential area
- to the south: historic city walls along F. Chopina Street
- to the west: voivodeship road no. 297 (Wesoła Street, W. Łokietka Street)
- numerous green areas (e.g. parks and squares).
Taking the above and the analysis of the parking situation in Bolesławiec into account, the following paid parking zone is proposed, covering the following streets:
Plac Wolności
Ogrodowa
Kaszubska
A. Mickiewicza
I. Daszyńskiego
Sądowa
Teatralna
Sierpnia ’80
A. Asnyka (from A. Mickiewicza Street to Bielska Street)
Car park – Marshal J. Piłsudski Square
I. Łukasiewicza (from Bankowa Street to K. Miarki Street)
K. Miarki (from I. Łukasiewicza Street to A. Asnyka Street)
Bankowa
Kościelna
Zacisze
F. Chopina
Kutuzowa (from B. Kubika Street to Rynek)
Rynek
1 Maja
Karpecka
Magistracka
B. Prusa
Szkolna
Zgorzelecka (from Szkolna Street to Łokietka Street)
Górne Młyny (from W. Łokietka Street to Mała Street)
Mała
Piaskowa
Dolne Młyny (from Wesoła Street to Zgorzelecka Street)
Targowa
Grunwaldzka (from Zgorzelecka Street to Armii Krajowej Street)
Armii Krajowej.
There is no doubt that introducing parking charges will organize vehicle parking in the city centre and reduce parking in places not intended for it. At present, due to the lack of vacant parking spaces, drivers often leave their vehicles in a chaotic manner and in breach of applicable regulations.
It should also be noted that such parking restricts space on carriageways and pavements and often leads to vehicles being blocked by other drivers. In addition, it significantly impedes the movement of pedestrians, cyclists and people with disabilities and negatively affects the safety of road and/or pavement users.
Proposed system for collecting charges and granting discounts:
- Bolesławiec Resident Card (issued exclusively to people registered in the paid parking zone and paying personal income tax in Bolesławiec. All people holding a “City Card” will be able to use the discounts available when purchasing season cards in the paid parking zone)
- Season card in the Paid Parking Zone:
- Type A season card (for a zone resident – issued exclusively to people registered in the paid parking zone and paying personal income tax in Bolesławiec)
- Type B season card (for a resident from outside the zone who holds a resident card
- – issued exclusively to people registered in the paid parking zone and paying personal income tax in Bolesławiec)
- Type C season card (for people who do not hold a resident card)
- Mobile Payment in the Paid Parking Zone (e.g. SkyCash, mPay). Users who pay using the mobile system should identify their vehicle with an identifier (Parking Mobi) or by writing “mobiParking” on a piece of paper and leaving it behind the vehicle’s windscreen in a visible place
- Parking ticket in the Paid Parking Zone (a single-use ticket authorizes parking in the paid parking zone for the period resulting from the amount paid. The ticket is validated by entering the date and time when parking began. The ticket must be placed inside the vehicle, behind the windscreen, in a way that allows the start time to be checked. Parking tickets will be available at points of sale and from zone inspectors. Failure to display a correctly completed ticket behind the windscreen or exceeding the paid parking time is subject to a penalty charge in accordance with the regulations.
As a traffic-engineering tool, the zone should reduce the shortage of parking spaces and increase vehicle turnover. Introducing a paid parking zone will make it possible to achieve the established objectives, namely:
- creating additional vacant parking spaces (reducing the shortage of vacant parking spaces)
- increasing parking turnover and organizing the parking situation
- improving traffic conditions for pedestrians
- increasing the attractiveness of the city centre
- increasing the revenue of local retailers and entrepreneurs
- shaping appropriate transport behaviour among residents
- encouraging some residents to switch to bicycles and public transport
- improving air quality in the city and reducing noise levels.
Introducing the paid parking zone is also economically viable. The projected revenue will cover the costs of operating the zone and generate a profit. From a business perspective, this is therefore a profitable undertaking both for a private operator and for a city-administered model.
It is worth recalling that paid parking in Bolesławiec dates back to 2012, when the Bolesławiec City Council, by Resolution No. XXX/238/2012 of 28 November 2012 on establishing a paid parking zone, setting parking-charge rates for motor vehicles in the paid parking zone, the method of collecting these charges and determining the amount of the additional charge, decided to establish a paid parking zone in Bolesławiec on Marshal Józef Piłsudski Square from 1 January 2013.
At that time, councillors resolved, among other things, that charges for parking motor vehicles in the paid parking zone would be collected at the following rates: during the first hour of parking, PLN 1.00 per hour, with the charge differentiated according to parking time: PLN 0.50 for the first commenced 30 minutes and PLN 0.50 for the second commenced 30 minutes; during the second hour of parking, PLN 1.20 per hour; during the third hour of parking, PLN 1.40 per hour; and during the fourth and each subsequent hour of parking, PLN 1.00 per hour.
The spaces designated for parking are unguarded. In the paid parking zone for motor vehicles, charges are collected for parking time on working days, Monday to Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Although several years have passed since the landmark year 2013, the solutions introduced at that time remain, in principle, in force to this day.