Parcometro

The Ins and Outs of Paid Parking on the Streets

Worldwide most urban centers have parking meters lining the streets to take advantage of the parking wars and raise funds for several government projects-- not in Rome. In several locations in Rome, parking ticket vending machines can be found, but no parking meters on the streets. Why?

During the mid-90s, the city government decided to attempt to take advantage of the high rate of tourism and heavy traffic flow by installing parking meters around the city. A New York Times article referred to the effort as an initiative to encourage public transportation and walking to decrease the amount of pollution. (I'm sure that was reason #2, right a close second to the monetary benefits.) The law easily passed with excitement over the increase of jobs in the area and the citizens did not mind having to pay a few dollars to park every now and then. Then why aren't they in place any longer? Well apparently although the citizens of Rome agreed on having parking meters installed, they didn't really go for the idea of actually inserting money and using the meters. Romans would park in front of a meter and just not pay. Part of the issue is explained in an article on Wantedinrome.com that draws the statistic of 1 meter-maid per every 322 residents. With those odds I wouldn't buy any parking ticket at all. Needless to say, the parking meters are not seen all around the city, although in the northern area some streets still have them.


Purchase your own No Parking Meter Button here!