The investigation reveals that during 2018 the number of fines received due to wrong parking in the Municipality of Tirana went to 74,191 from only 32 that was the year before. The value gained as a result of the collection of fines was estimated to be 342 million euros.
Author: Geri Emiri, Lutfi Dervishi
If you live or work in the center of Tirana, one of the problems you will have to face is parking.
The established fees (100 ALL/hour) for parking were intended to discourage driving, especially in the center of the capital.
But, if you are an immigrant, foreigner, visitor from Kosovo or do not have a cell phone (credit), then parking turns into a nightmare, because from September 2018, parking on the streets of Tirana is paid only by sending an SMS with the vehicle license plate and the parking area.
When Tirana Parking launched its service on paid parking streets, you could pay by getting a ticket from the "parking inspectors" you found on the side of the road or by sending an SMS with the vehicle's license plate, the area, and how many hours you would be staying.
Tirana Parking was established as an agency under the Municipality of Tirana and began operating in 2016 with the aim of administering the paid public parking service in the Municipality of Tirana, above ground and underground.
The Center for Quality Journalism found complaints from citizens, which are also recognized by local authorities.
In a letter dated September 11, 2018 that the Center has, the Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, while addressing the Public Procurement Agency, states that there have been many complaints from citizens about the SMS payment method , as some did not have financial values (credits) on their mobile phones and that difficulties have been created in collecting parking fees, as foreign citizens who do not have an Albanian number cannot benefit from this service.
The municipality of Tirana decided to diversify the payment method for parking in January.
At the Municipal Council meeting on January 31, the payment method was added to Tirana Parking employees or alternative methods such as self-service devices. Although earlier in the report, the municipality wrote that it intended to avoid the form of payment with an inspector to avoid abuses.
A company that currently operates in the local market in the field of payment Services (where it currently performs payments for telephone, OSHEE, UKT, etc.) using electronic devices, "has expressed interest in offering this alternative payment service", - the letter reads. that Veliaj directs to the Public Procurement Agency.
Self-service devices appeared months ago on Myslym Shyri and Ibrahim Rugova streets under the parking signs with the inscription “You can also pay here.” The devices of a private company are located there, while they do not yet offer the parking payment service.
The opposition in the Municipal Council has requested that Tirana Parking purchase the equipment itself and offer the cash payment service, avoiding the "concession", as the Socialist Movement for Integration advisors described it at the Municipal Council meeting, where the new form of parking was approved by majority votes, which they described as an increase in payment methods.
Revenue from fines competes with parking
All the roads, 69 of them, that Tirana Parking manages , have become a "mine" for the company.
The data officially obtained by the Municipal Police of Tirana show that from 2017 to 2018 there is a doubling of the fines imposed in connection with parking. Calculating the number of fines for 2018, it turns out that 1 fine was imposed every 2 minutes.
If a citizen parks in paid spaces and does not pay the ticket or exceeds the parking limit, he is fined. The Municipal Police of Tirana exercises this competence based on the Traffic Code (Article 155), "Stopping, stopping and impounding vehicles".
The fines are increasing exponentially. If in 2017 we had 32,342 fines, in 2018 the fines doubled to 74,191, based on the official data we received from the Municipal Police. Calculating the number of fines for 2018 and dividing by 264 working days (when paid parking operates from Monday to Friday), it turns out that 281 fines were imposed per day or about 1 fine every 2 minutes.
The revenue that the municipality collects from fines is greater than the revenue that is collected from all parking, on the street, in the squares and in the underground ones. If we get an average fine in zone A worth 3000 ALL and where there are 39 roads, for 2018 we calculate 222 million ALL or 1.8 million euros collected from fines, while the value collected from all parking for 2018 is about 270 million ALL or 2.1 million euros.
Fines have become a concern for businesses as well.
"Customers buy a pair of shoes for 4000 lek and receive a fine of 3000 thousand lek, so they don't even think about coming to me anymore, that's why they leave and our business is falling," says a worried Aurora Shehaj, who manages a boutique on Myslym Shyri Street.
On toll roads in European capitals or as it operates at Mother Teresa Airport , there is a tolerance for free parking of 4-7 minutes.
"There are many complaints, where the Municipal Police does not have the goal of monitoring, but is waiting for even a minute of delay, so that you can receive a fine. Imposing fines has therefore become a goal for the Municipal Police", - says Edi Fero about the concerns that citizens address to him as the head of the Albanian Consumer Association.
The Tirana Parking Agency decided to remove the "parking inspectors" from the streets (in 2018 there were 115 employees), but the number of municipal police officers who also issue fines for incorrect parking has increased significantly, from 323 officers in 2016 to 428 officers in 2018.
Reserved parking
Analyzing the sources of money collection for parking in three years, it turns out that the highest income comes from "reserved parking". Individuals, companies or taxi Services can reserve the place throughout the year or in certain parts of it by parking only them.
The subscription contract for 1 year (from Monday to Friday), with 12 hours a day, according to the municipality, costs 221,760 ALL per year. But, if we calculate the income that the municipality would collect per day from paid parking, where one hour costs 100 ALL, more money would be collected per year, i.e. 316.800 ALL.
"Reserved parking is privatization. So, the volume (frequency) of use is not served, but the volume of income, so it is counterproductive. The purpose of the fee is not only to generate income, but also to improve parking, not letting people park all day", - assesses Akil Kraja, adviser of the Democratic Party in the Municipal Council of Tirana.
According to Edi Fero, one of the many complaints is that many business owners have occupied seven or eight parking spaces in front of the business and thus make it difficult for the resident to find parking, even for a fee.
All toll roads
In January 2016, Tirana became the first city in Albania to introduce toll roads. By a decision of the Municipal Council , the Tirana Parking agency was created , under the Municipality of Tirana, which currently administers 3 parking zones, A, B and C, starting at 100 lek for one hour of parking, followed by 40 and 20 lek.
Three years after the start of parking fees on the streets of Tirana, the parking agency has 69 streets under its administration. In the parking zone A, there are 39 streets, in the zone B, 9 streets and in the rest, according to the agency, work is underway to equip them with appropriate signage. According to the decision of the Tirana Municipal Council, on a street, parking spaces are divided into paid, reserved, free and parking dedicated to people with disabilities.
The scheme operates 5 days a week, from Monday to Friday, from 7:30 am to 20:00 pm.
The idea of the local legislators was that not all the spaces on the street, be they in the center, should be paid.
The Center for Journalism observed the division of paid and free parking spaces on Myslym Shyri Street , where it resulted that, according to the Municipal Council Decision for "paid and reserved spaces", there was a quota of 60%, while in the field we found about 76%. While of the 40% that was determined in the decision for the "free parking" category, we found about 24%.
"In this case, the citizens have lost! It's all illegal... you can't increase the number of paid parking lots without asking the City Council", says the opposition councilor, Akil Kraja.
Even on Ibrahim Rugova Street, paid parking spaces have been increased above the established norm, halving the free ones. In the decision of the Municipal Council, Zogu I Boulevard is determined to have paid parking only on the western side, but the Municipality of Tirana has turned both sides of the street into paid parking.
A completely different situation is on Kavaja Street , where free parking spaces are above the established norm, while on Luigj Gurakuqi Street and Kosovars Street, the norms were according to the Decision of the Municipal Council.
From the detailed observation of the Center for Journalism on two of the main streets of the capital, Myslym Shyri and Ibrahim Rugova , it resulted that paid and reserved parking spaces were at higher rates than the decision made by the Municipal Council, increasing at the expense of free parking spaces and almost halving their number.
" Tirana Parking staff conducts field verifications on the change in the number of real spaces and then, in cooperation with the Directorate of Transport and Road Traffic, the plans are processed with the relevant changes to approve the changed percentage of parking spaces," the Municipality of Tirana officially responded to the Center.
While the municipality stated that the feasibility study for the toll roads was carried out by its structures, it did not respond to our request to provide the feasibility study for each road.
According to Edi Fero, who represents the problems of consumers, the allocation of parking spaces should have included consultations with the community according to the "Law on Public Consultation", but this did not happen.
Myslym Shyri Street in Tirana is a commercial street, where around 360 businesses operate on both sides.
Aurora Shehaj, who manages a boutique on this street, says that the state should have a more lenient policy regarding paid parking spaces.
"It was only when we saw the guys in vests that we learned about the paid parking on the street, as we had no prior information from the municipality," she told the Center.
"Huge fines are imposed here as a result of not informing people. More signs are needed, as the lines are also erased and people drive by thinking there are parking attendants. The police come very quickly and fine him, and when they come back, they find the sheet on the window," says Aurora Shehaj.
To park for an hour there, where together with 38 other streets it is classified as parking zone A, costs 100 ALL. Paid parking spaces are marked with blue lines, reserved parking spaces are marked with yellow, and free parking spaces are marked with white.
The problem of parking in Tirana is not only for businesses and visitors, but also for the residents themselves, for whom every day it is becoming more and more impossible to find a free place for their vehicles.
* Journalist Geri Emiri, Editor Lutfi Dervishi.
**In the main photo at the beginning of the article, the sign with the notice for the parking fee. Photo: Tirana Municipality.
***Note
This article was produced within the project "Tiranalytics: An assessment of public expenditures of local government in the Municipality of Tirana" which is supported by LevizAlbania. The opinions and positions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the opinions and positions of the donor.
