Florence ZTL Modified & Cheap Parking

In order to facilitate access to downtown Florence so residents can more easily patronize shops, boutiques and restaurants, city council has decided to approve a motion to turn off the video cameras at the entrance to two pedestrian-only areas in the city center.  In addition, Firenze Parcheggi, which manages the city’s parking garages, has announced that fees in the underground lot at the Florence station (notorious as the most expensive in the city) as will drop between 4 pm and midnight to only €1 per hour between August 28 and September 30.  This deal has been echoed by a private parking garage on Borgo Ognissanti.

The video cameras that will be turned off starting August 28 are located at via della Scale and Lungarno Vespucci, allowing parking for non-residents near piazza Strozzi and Piazza Ognissanti, for the first time since the establishment of the ZTL (zone limited to resident-traffic only).  For downtown residents, there will be an a further bonus of the availability of 35 free new parking spaces in piazza del Carmine where leave their cars.

Shopkeepers associations have applauded these decision, hoping business will increase.  A spokesperson for Palazzo Vecchio (Town Hall) has also announced that the €1 fee that parking garages collect from non-residents that goes straight into city coffers has been cancelled at least until December 30.

To read more in Italian, visit Florence’s La Repubblica news site.