After a lot of back and forth, the fee for the resident parking permit will rise from 30 to 100 euros annually from Tuesday (October 1st). This corresponds to an increase of 233 percent. The most important questions and answers.
How does resident parking work?
In the Cologne city area, 47 residential parking areas are marked with a red dot on the parking ticket machines. In these zones, holders of the ID card are allowed to park for free or they currently only pay the annual fee of 30 euros. It is purely an administration fee. Cologne’s mayor Henriette Reker (independent) said about the 30 euros: “It’s ridiculous that it’s currently only 30 euros.” Since 2022, NRW municipalities have been allowed to introduce higher fees independently. Owners usually place the ID card with the red dot behind the windshield; the maximum parking time does not apply to them. At the end of 2023, around 59,500 ID cards were in circulation. There are 51,400 parking spaces in the 47 areas. The passes do not guarantee a parking space.
How long does the new fee of 100 euros apply?
Initially only 151 days until February 28, 2025. This is because the majority alliance of the Greens, CDU and Volt (50 of 90 seats in the city council) wanted to increase the fees even more and link them to the length of the vehicle. But the administration needs more time to prepare its technical systems for this. For the period up to March 1st, the city council decided by a majority: Anyone who applies for an ID card during this time will pay a flat rate of 100 euros for one year and 65 euros for half a year.
Mayor Henriette Reker describes the previous fee as “ridiculous”.
Are there exceptions?
Yes. Business owners do not need a resident parking permit; alternatively, they can apply for an exemption for parking throughout the city. It costs at least 170 euros annually.
Has there been a rush for ID cards for 30 euros in the past few weeks?
According to a city spokesman, the rush was “relatively contained”. According to him, there were around 500 more extension applications than the month before. In any case, not every ID card holder could quickly apply before October 1st in order to only pay 30 euros instead of 100 euros. An extension is only possible if the ID card expires in the next 90 days. However, these vehicle owners were also aware of this, the city spokesman said: “Those who were able to extend within the 90-day period took advantage of this opportunity at short notice.”
And what happens from March 1st?
From this date onwards, the flat rate of 100 euros per year will no longer apply. Then the length of the car is the decisive criterion. The fee is between 100 and 120 euros annually. For cars with a length of up to 4,109 meters, 100 euros are due annually; their share is around 25 percent. The permit for cars longer than 4,709 meters costs 120 euros per year. They also make up 25 percent. For the cars in between, you have to pay 110 euros annually, which applies to around 50 percent of the cars in Cologne. In the future, there will no longer be any ID cards for vehicles longer than 5.60 meters. According to the city, these could include the Ford Tourneo or the VW Caddy. You therefore have to pay at the parking ticket machines.
Weren’t even higher fees planned?
Yes. Originally, fees of 330, 360 and 390 euros per year were planned depending on the length of the car. The reduced tariff for Cologne Pass holders was 105, 112 or 120 euros, depending on the length of the vehicle. People who receive basic social security can receive the Cologne Pass, among others. But in the summer of the previous year, the Federal Administrative Court declared Freiburg’s statutes for resident parking to be ineffective, among other things because there was no “legal basis for the reduction and waiver of fees for social reasons”. And since Freiburg’s regulations were very close to those of the city of Cologne, the city subsequently withdrew its plans. There is no reduction for Cologne Pass holders in terms of the transitional flat rate of 100 euros and the higher fees from March. The city of Cologne wants to wait and see for now.
But why is the reduction still possible in Bonn for Bonn Pass holders?
The city of Bonn assumes that its tariff is legally secure. Cologne’s head of transport, Ascan Egerer, said last year: “Bonn is the first city to start with a social tariff despite the ruling. First we want to wait and see what happens in Bonn. If it is a viable solution, we want to follow suit. We don’t always have to be the first to take risks.”
