If New York could, so can Bucharest

Perry Zizzi

As someone who usually follows the rules religiously, I loathe to park on sidewalks. Not only does it add to the anarchic and selfish feel of a city in dire need of order and a sense of civic duty, but it also forces pedestrians onto the streets to walk around thoughtlessly parked cars that don't leave enough room to pass. I have seen wobbly elderly people struggling to squeeze past cars in order to avoid having to step out into oncoming traffic with their groceries. And now that I have twin babies, I have personal experience with the exasperation of rolling their stroller onto a busy avenue, dodging fast-moving vehicles in order to pass.

So one would have thought that I should know better. But on that arctic day, behind schedule and not finding a parking space after roaming the neighbourhood for 15 minutes, I made the fatal decision to park on part of a street where no parking was allowed. But to allow the plow to pass, I parked on the sidewalk, leaving a good meter of space between the car and the closest building. Then I dashed away to my meeting, plodding through powder that had already accumulated up to my knees.

Two hours later, I trudged back to find the street still not plowed but now littered with cars parked on the sidewalks on both sides. Except for my car. Where my car was once parked, there was a void like a front tooth knocked out of a gaping, disbelieving mouth. As I began wondering whether in fact I had NOT parked there after all, it almost seemed as if all the other cars – admittedly much less expensive models – self-consciously pretended I was not there. Complete silence except for the gentle, nearly imperceptible sound of snow landing on snow.

Mysteriously, the other cars had all managed to avoid the tow truck. Perhaps they had successfully camouflaged themselves as the hunter passed, whereas my big white four-by-four stood out as easy prey. On the other hand, what better camouflage than white in a snowstorm? After frantically searching roads nearby, I gradually realised that my car had not been towed and that my free morning would be lost.

The following hours I spent in a semi-rural lot on a hill near Piaţa Presei Libere. It would have almost been bucolic and peaceful had it not been filled with Mercedes, BMWs, Porsches and other cars unlucky to have violated the sacrosanct parking rules of Bucharest. Plus angry and indignant owners who had come to rescue their cars taken hostage.

The "Nota" for having parked illegally and been towed: More than the equivalent of EUR 250. The operators of the tow truck were nothing if not sensible: Why waste time towing a less expensive car and taking up valuable space on the impoundment area when the owners of those cars might need many days or weeks to come up with the cash to pay? Better to target luxury cars! Their owners will usually pay cash immediately to win the release of their beloved modes of transport. Then the city is happy because it gets its cash from the fine and the towing company is happy because it makes a massive profit. Everybody's happy, right?

Not quite, since parking restrictions are not in place primarily to generate money.

This vignette illustrates perfectly the problem with parking in Bucharest: Cluttered sidewalks and rapacious towing companies. How can the threat of fines and towing costs discourage people from parking on the sidewalks when most resources are devoted to going after expensive cars, leaving behind sidewalks still crammed with vehicles?

Interestingly, if I had parked on a sidewalk in New York City the fine would have been $115 and the cost of towing would have been $125, for a grand total of $240. Using the exchange rate in effect at the time, I would have been liable to pay EUR 171.

So I ask: Why do fine plus towing cost substantially more in Bucharest than in New York City, while conversely why does New York City do a better and impartial job clearing streets (and sidewalks) of illegally parked cars? Or indeed why do other cities in this region – such as Belgrade, Warsaw and Prague – succeed in keeping cars off sidewalks while Bucharest fails, even with disproportionate monetary loss for the unlucky owner who gets caught?

Could it be the sense among drivers that parking on the sidewalk is like a lottery, due to inconsistent and often random enforcement  which, oddly, differs even from sector to sector in this city?
Removing cars from sidewalks makes sense not only to keep pedestrians of all types safe but also to keep traffic flowing, since these cars are inevitably also half-parked on the streets. If New York City can do it and Belgrade can do it and Prague can do it and Warsaw can do it and so many other cities can do it, then, assuredly, Bucharest can do it.

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