Schaerbeek to scrap free parking areas in 2020

From January of next year onward, the Brussels municipality of Schaerbeek will scrap all its free parking areas.

Three different parking zones are currently enforced in the municipality – a blue zone where parking is free provided a parking disc or resident parking permit is used; a green zone where anyone who doesn’t have a resident parking permit must pay to park their car; and a red zone that requires both residents and visitors to pay for short-term parking.

From Jan. 1, 2020 onward, Schaerbeek will scrap its blue zone areas, which currently cover roughly half the municipality’s surface area. The blue areas will be replaced by green areas everywhere. This means that with the exception of residents, anyone who wants to park their car in the district will have to take out their wallet.

“This is a simplification of parking policies and will allow us to better map the demand for parking,” mobility alderwoman Adelheid Byttebier told Bruzz. “And that’s the foundation for healthy parking policies.”

Drivers who wish to leave their car in the green zone will be required to pay €0.50 for the first 30 minutes, €1.50 for the next 30 minutes and €2 for every subsequent hour they leave their car stationed.

Photo: Belga / Eric Lalmand

Written by Linda A. Thompson