How the city of Munich is trying to solve its parking problem
One thing they never tell you in your German class is just how many subcategories the language has. They don’t tell you because you’d immediately throw your textbook in the bin and make a beeline for the door. There’s the language of bureaucracy, the language of the work place, the language of tenancy and, finally, in a cryptic little category all its own, the language of street signs. You know, little white notices attached to large street signs that include words like eingeschränktes Halteverbot and gebührenpflichtig. Well, for those of you still struggling with Munich’s Schilderwald (forest of signs), help is at hand. In January Munich’s City Council introduced a new parking system in some inner city districts. Known as the Blaue Zone (Blue Zone), the system is intended to simplify parking by eliminating as many street signs (Strassenschilder) as possible and using markings on the road (Strassenmarkierungen) instead. So far the Blaue Zone covers three areas of central Munich: the Hackenviertel (roughly the district between the Kaufingerstrasse and Sendlinger Tor Platz), the Kreuzviertel (which reaches from the Maximiliansplatz southeast to the Frauenplatz) and the Graggenauviertel (the rectangle of streets separating Tal from the Maximilianstrasse). The Blaue Zone is recognizable by a solid blue line marked on the road and delineates places where parking is permitted from Monday to Saturday, from 8 am to 7 pm for a period of up to two hours. Drivers must purchase a parking ticket (Parkschein) at one of the many machines dotted around each district—the time is calculated in 12 minute blocks and every 12 minutes costs € 0,50. Between 7 pm and 8 am and on Sundays parking on blue lines is free and there is no time limit. Stopping on a blue line without a parking ticket on workdays is allowed only if you are collecting someone or letting them get out of your car (ein- und aussteigen), or for loading or unloading (be- und entladen). The Blaue Zone also includes special parking for large delivery vehicles. These sites are marked with orange lines and truck drivers need no special ticket to park there. Other drivers should be aware that the orange delivery zones (Lieferzonen) are patrolled regularly by traffic wardens, so don’t even consider stopping on an orange line. There are four other road markings that car drivers ought to be familiar with: a red line indicating that parking is prohibited at all times (absolutes Halteverbot), yellow lines that mark taxi stands (Taxistände), blue-and-white striped road markings, which show parking spaces for the disabled and red-and-white striped lines, which must be kept clear to allow access for the fire brigade (Feuerwehranfahrt). If you happen to live in one of the three zones, you will need a special permit (Ausnahmegenehmigung) in order to park on the blue lines. This can be obtained by contacting the traffic department of Munich’s City Council (Strassenverkehrsbehörde). Send an email to verkehrsmanagement.kvr@muenchen.de or call (089) 23 32 27 48. Most of the information, including maps of the Blaue Zonen, can be found at < a href="http://www.muenchen.de/referat/ kvr/strasse"targetextern>www.muenchen.de/referat/kvr/strasse under “Blaue Zonen.” Though the new parking system seems to be working well, a major drawback became apparent when it snowed earlier this year covering all the markings. Perhaps by next winter the traffic department will have solved this little inconvenience, too.