Bikes and Cars Duel Over the Same Parking Spaces in Berlin
In an effort to clear cluttered sidewalks, new city regulations will raise parking fees for drivers while allowing bicycles and scooters to claim street spaces for free.
Bicycles are parked on the sidewalk in Neukölln, Berlin, in December.
Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
A striking detail hidden away in Berlin’s new parking regulations threatens to intensify the struggle between drivers and cyclists vying for space on the streets.
After Jan. 1, drivers will have to pay an extra euro ($1.05) per hour for street parking citywide, the new rules state. But two-wheeled vehicles (bikes, motorbikes and everything in between) can use these spaces for free — spaces that the public had hitherto largely assumed were reserved for motor vehicles.