Drivers who improperly leave their cars in paid city-owned parking spots will be fined under legislation that Moscow lawmakers approved in a final reading Wednesday.
Cars without license plates will be fined 5,000 rubles ($160), while drivers who don’t pay for parking spots will be fined 2,500 rubles, Interfax reported. Other parking offenses will cost 1,500 rubles.
These amendments, which Mayor Sergei Sobyanin is expected to sign into law, are part of a series of moves to tackle Moscow’s messy parking system, which is blamed for contributing to the city’s notorious traffic traffic jams.
Stepan Orlov, a City Duma deputy, said the fines were a “necessary step” ahead of the introduction of paid parking in central Moscow on Nov. 1.
The pilot parking project will include 594 paid parking spaces, Deputy Mayor Maxim Liksutov Wednesday. He noted that the money would go toward improving Moscow infrastructure.
A parking space will cost 50 rubles ($1.60) under the project, which will run for four months and, if successful, could be expanded. Payment can be made by credit card, cell phone or special parking payment terminals, Kommersant Wednesday.
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