As traffic in downtown Reykjavík continues to grow, the proposal has been made that every parking space in Reykjavík require payment.
As reported, the Environmental and Planning Department of the city of Reykjavík estimates that 260,000 cars will pass through the city each day by 2030, up from about 200,000 today.
The only way to stem this, the city contends, is to make alternate forms of transportation more appealing. However, bus fares continue to climb, even though service itself will be extended to begin earlier and end later.
Vísir reports that Hjálmar Sveinsson, the vice chairperson of the city planning committee, proposed that one way to convince people to use more public transportation would be to “set fares on all parking spaces downtown, at hospitals, universities, and so forth.”
A new hospital planned for construction on Hringbraut has already resulted in hundreds of area resident comments and objections coming to the planning committee. Planning committee representative for the Independence Party Gísli Marteinn Baldursson voiced objections to the building of the hospital, saying that the consequences of the construction of the hospital were not fully considered, and that car traffic in the area will likely become thoroughly congested.
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