In what appears to have been a poorly executed bid to encourage Muscovites to pay their parking fees, city authorities have provided drivers with a cheat sheet for parking in the city center, local news site M24.ru reported Wednesday.
Moscow parking inspectors regularly trawl 557 different routes around the city in "parkons," cars that are specially equipped to scan license plates, allowing authorities to impose fines against those that have failed to pay for their parking spots.
Paid parking was introduced in select portions Moscow city center in 2012, and has since expanded to the whole of the Third Ring Road, which encircles the city center.
The city's information technology department has released a map laying out all 557 routes, at least temporarily providing drivers with a map of the city's parking safe havens: unmonitored streets and alleyways.
The developers of the map said in comments carried by M24.ru that rather than teaching drivers how to get off scot-free for parking illegally, their aim was to encourage drivers to cough up 40-80 rubles ($0.7-1.40 depending on the area) for their parking spots, rather than risk facing fines of 2,500 rubles ($44).
