Parking meters
Parking metersIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Tel Aviv parking enforcement officials are clearly on the ball, according to a report by the Israel Consumers Union. At least 50% of the drivers who need to park in Tel Aviv at least three times a week reported, the group said, that they have received at least one parking ticket during 2014. In addition, one of every five have had their cars towed.

The parking “business” is a very lucrative one for the city, the report said. Tel Aviv took in NIS 208 million ($50 million) in parking fines over the past year. That money, according to custom and law, is supposed to go towards improving the parking infrastructure for residents and visitors, but the report said that only NIS 60 million of the loot has gone towards that purpose. That figure – 26% of the take from tickets – is a far lower percentage than the 47% of the NIS 210 million the city reaped from fines in 2013.

The group plans to campaign on behalf of drivers in Tel Aviv, demanding that the municipality and the Transportation Ministry take action against parking enforcement agents “gone wild.” Providing “accessible parking opportunities is fundamental obligation for a municipality, both to residents and visitors,” said Council officials. “The parking crisis in Tel Aviv should not pose an opportunity for the city to fill its coffers, but to provide solutions.”

In response, the municipality said that the solution to the parking crisis is not to create new spaces, but to encourage visitors and residents to use alternative means of transportation in the city, including public transportation and bicycles, among other methods of transport.