The short-term parking zone applies throughout Vienna from March 1st. Nina (22) no longer knows how to get to work. Garage space or public transport are not an alternative.
Monday morning, 7 a.m. The parking lots are filling up in Vienna’s Donaustadt. Gänserndorf, Mistelbach, Korneuburg: Cars with different license plates are lined up – at least as long as it is still possible free of charge. 146,000 people normally commute to Vienna by car every day. When comprehensive parking space management is introduced from March 1st, you will have to find alternatives.
A similar picture emerges at the U1 terminus Leopoldau (Vienna-Floridsdorf). At our local inspection it is shortly before 9 a.m. and a parking space can only be obtained with a lot of luck and perseverance. Nina from the district of Mistelbach (Lower Austria) had the former. In conversation with “Today” tells the young student that she is on her way to work. She works 20 hours a week alongside her studies in Vienna. She doesn’t know how she’s going to get to the city in the future.
“It is a disaster”
“On the way here I thought about it again. The topic of parking stickers is buzzing around in my head the whole time.” As a young student, she didn’t have enough money to take an expensive garage space. Switching to public transport is almost impossible. “I come from a small town, there isn’t always a train, there are always cancellations,” reports the 22-year-old. In addition, there is the money for a monthly ticket from Lower Austria. “I don’t know what to do. I have no money for the garage, but I also have no money for an apartment in Vienna. It’s really a disaster.”
Alternative: garage in the shopping center
“I think the situation is really stupid,” says Nicole. It runs daily from the Gänserndorf district (Lower Austria) to Vienna. The 27-year-old works in the Donauzentrum and usually parks in the parking lot behind it. So far this was available free of charge, but from March 1st it will be: Please pay! This is already indicated by a sign at the entrance that can hardly be overlooked. The young woman from Lower Austria does not yet know what she will do then.
“Maybe I’ll go into the garage. I’m not satisfied, but I can’t do anything.” “Honestly? I don’t give a damn,” laughs Ronny. He works in the area and, like most people here, commutes to Vienna from Lower Austria. “I take it very calmly. It is what it is,” he says relaxed.
As an alternative, Katja (45) would also drive into the garage. She commutes from the district of Korneuburg (Lower Austria) to Vienna and also works in the shopping center. The new situation is annoying, but you have to accept it as it is, she also makes it clear. Like Nicole and Katja, the majority of commuters on Bernoullistrasse in Vienna’s Donaustadt district are planning to use the garage when the parking sticker is introduced. The advantage, according to Mohammad (31), is an employee discount. He comes to the city on the Danube from Mödling (Lower Austria) every day. “I take it as it is,” says the young Lower Austrian and shrugs his shoulders.
Donaustadterin: “I’m dissatisfied too”
The introduction of the parking sticker is not only a challenge for commuters, but also for many Donaustadt residents. 37-year-old Sonja often drives around the district. “I visit my mother or my sister, it’s difficult here in public,” she says. “I also take the car to work. I don’t think it’s a good thing that I’ll have to pay a parking sticker for it in the future.” But that’s not the only thing that bothers the young woman from Vienna: “I also find it difficult for others who don’t have a pick and can’t stand anywhere in the district.”
Lower Austria takes measures
The city of Vienna has decided to make the situation more difficult for commuters from Lower Austria, according to the Lower Austrian state government. For this reason, a package of measures for commuters was presented there at the beginning of February. Train and bus connections are to be expanded and strengthened. An expansion of the Park & Ride facilities is also planned. A website was even created for specific information on the planned measures.
Read more: Lower Austria takes 30 measures against the Vienna parking sticker
