From Wednesday, parking in Budapest will be payable exclusively via mobile phone, with motorists able to settle charges through an app, SMS, or voice call. At the same time, parking fees will rise by between 33% and 50%, depending on the zone.
Parking in Budapest overhauled: no coins or cash accepted anymore
The decision to phase out parking meters was approved by the Budapest General Assembly at its meeting on 27 November 2024, through an amendment to the city’s parking regulations. The new rules will come into force on 1 July, the Hungarian news agency wrote.
In preparation, the municipal authority has provided information boards, which district-level parking operators are required to install. Payment via the BudapestGO application, however, will not yet be available; the feature is expected to be introduced in a future update.
Under the revised tariff system, hourly parking charges will increase to 800 forints in Zone A, 600 forints in Zone B, 400 forints in Zone C, and 300 forints in Zone D.
Further changes include an increase in the night-time parking fee at guarded, paid P+R car parks to 300 forints per hour, while the sale of monthly daytime passes will be discontinued. On Margaret Island, the hourly rate at the northern paid car park will also rise to 800 forints.
Revamped night network
Alongside the overhaul of the parking system, changes are also being introduced to Budapest’s night-time public transport network. The new system will be rolled out on the night between Wednesday and Thursday.
Have you read this one? Budapest to abolish all parking meters from July – but drivers will pay more
According to the Budapest Transport Centre (BKK), the revamped night network will offer broader coverage and faster journey times across both the capital and its surrounding agglomeration. The redesign is intended to create a coherent, easy-to-navigate network covering the entire city while also meeting the needs of suburban residents, with key routes radiating from the city centre and the Grand Boulevard to all districts.
Direct services will include a connection between Deák Ferenc Square and Pécel, while buses from Gödöllő will also run into the inner city. Improved links for Budaörs, Budakeszi and Zsámbék, as well as neighbouring settlements, will be provided by routes extending as far as Törökbálint. New services will also operate towards Szentendre, with accessibility enhanced for Solymár, Szigetszentmiklós and Gyál.
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Was about time. Parking was silly cheap in Budapest, encouraging car use when nearly everyone behind the wheel would have had an excellent alternative. In my experience Budapest is one of the most car orientated, car congested big cities in Europe. Parking in the centre should be 1,500 Ft an hour. When a monthly ‘berlet’ is under 9,000 Ft per month (which is a gift and amongst the cheapest monthly passes anywhere for a very comprehensive transport system) people have no excuse other than their own indolence.
It would also be great if all those cheap, ultra high mileage (therefore wrecked) thirteenth hand ex German diesel cars were turfed out of the city to reduce air pollution. I have to pay £12.50 per day if I want to drive a sub Euro 6 diesel in Greater London (or a pre-2006 petrol car) and somewhat lesser daily penalties are payable in most other cities in the UK. A 2,000 Ft per day pollution charge for non Euro 6 diesels in Budapest would be perfectly reasonable. The only place other than Budapest that I’ve experienced a sore throat due to summer air pollution is Havana, Cuba. I’ve never been to Mumbai but let’s keep the peer group as Munich and Vienna, not the third world.