Higher SUV parking charges and increased resident parking costs to be considered in Dublin

The removal of all free on-street parking within the canals in Dublin city and higher parking charges for SUVs and residential parking permits are to be considered in a review of parking rules next year.

On-street parking charges are to increase to up to €4 an hour from next year. However, the council is also planning an extensive overhaul of all its parking bylaws, to address growing concerns about the use of the city’s streets as free or low-cost storage for cars, particularly larger vehicles.

The council’s head of traffic, Brendan O’Brien, said a number of councillors had raised the problem of high emissions vehicles and the growing prevalence of cars that are “too big”, asking how they could be discouraged from driving in the city.

The council intends to “remove all free on-street parking within the canal cordon area” he said, which would include the city centre, as well as residential areas within the borders of the Royal and Grand canals.

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It would also consider increases to annual residential parking permit costs, he said. Residents pay a flat annual charge of €50 where there is an on-street parking charge. However, Mr O’Brien said there is an argument for increasing that charge, particularly in high-demand areas such as the city centre’s “yellow” parking zone.

“There is increasingly an issue with the cost of the residential permit, particularly when you’re in something like the yellow zone. The parking permit at the moment is not zonal, so that’s something that should be looked at,” he told councillors on Wednesday.

“Next year we intend to do a major review of the parking bylaws,” he said. “There are quite a number of things that need to be addressed in a full review of the bylaws, but for now we’re just looking at the individual tariffs and what we’re doing here is moving them up in line with or slightly below the cost of inflation. ”

From next year charges for the most expensive city centre “yellow zone” will increase from €3.50 to €4 an hour, while just outside this area the “red zone” charge will go from €3 to €3.50. The hourly rate in the outer “green zone” will increase from €1.80 to €2, while the low-demand “orange zone” will go from €1.10 to €1.20.

The “blue zone” rate — which applies to some suburban villages — will rise from 80 cent to 90 cent, while the special city centre Sunday parking charge applying from 2pm to 6pm will increase from €1.60 to €1.80.

Sixteen years ago the council proposed doubling parking charges for SUVs. However, following a public backlash at the time, councillors refused to change the bylaws.