The Knesset Economic Committee, chaired by MK David Bitan, approved today, Tuesday, a bill for its second and third readings that would cancel the so-called “parking law.” The law, which took effect seven months ago and drew heavy criticism for distorting the market, is now expected to be revoked. If the repeal is completed, parking lots would return to the old billing system, one full hour for the first hour, then charges in 15-minute increments.
The repeal is part of a broader bill establishing metropolitan public transport authorities in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, with a second stage planned for Beersheba. Under that framework, public transport management would shift from the central government to a metropolitan council made up of local authority heads who know the needs of the field. The parking repeal clause would take effect four months after publication in the official gazette, to give parking-lot operators time to prepare.
The original law was meant to help drivers who parked briefly but were still charged for a full hour. Before it, anyone parking during the first hour paid for one full hour, and after that the second hour was billed in 15-minute units. The new mechanism was supposed to force private parking operators to charge by the minute and benefit drivers staying under an hour.
In practice, however, many operators raised prices for every minute to offset losses from short stays, making long parking sessions much more expensive than before. That led to public anger and complaints in the media and online about unreasonable charges. The repeal still needs final approval by the plenum, and because of the political situation it is unclear when that will happen. Bitan said in earlier discussions that he hoped the change would lower prices, but he acknowledged it might not, because prices depend on the parking-lot owners, and the law only changes the billing method, not the maximum price.
