City’s Paid Parking Fails as Viale Canella Stations Remain Empty

Expected and occurred. Yesterday, the second day of the appearance of the sign announcing “paid parking” and the second day of the parking meter’s operation, the elegant viale Canella parking lot remained empty for hours, with half of the spaces free.

Although, as on Monday, the parking meter was “out of service,” meaning any driver could park for free at will.

Forty parking spaces, usually very popular, were only occupied by a few rare tourists (who didn’t understand why the machine wasn’t accepting money) and a few local smart-alecks, who, once realizing the malfunction, immediately took advantage of the situation to park without time limits.

Situation at 11 a.m. and driver behaviors

At 11 a.m., as documented by the photos we are publishing separately, the situation was paradoxical: 19 free spaces in the parking lot designated as paid (according to the signage) and as many as 3 cars illegally parked along the viale.

Rather than heading toward the parking meter, the owners of these vehicles preferred to “risk” just a few meters from the area reserved for blue stripes (which was wrong: as we said, the machine was unresponsive).

Implications of the parking meter installation and the city council’s decisions

What happened yesterday already clearly highlights the absurdity of the city council’s decision to convert the viale Canella area into a paid parking zone (which has already been penalized by the removal of all the parking bays that used to be on both sides of the street).

This area – turned into a cash grab of 1200 lire per hour – will be completely ignored by motorists in the Busa district, just as the paid parking zone on viale Pilati is ignored during normal days.

Decrease in parking spaces and increase in traffic

Instead of increasing the availability of parking spaces, the city’s parking facilities are actually diminishing.

At the same time, the total mileage driven by those searching for free spots is increasing.

Fewer parking bays available means more exhaust fumes in the heart of the city.

It’s almost too incredible to believe—more traffic chaos.