Brussels gives city-centre traders free parking tickets for customers

The City of Brussels is making good on its promises to businesses by distributing thousands of tickets for free parking in 18 car parks in the Pentagon area.

The aim is for businesses to give those tickets to customers as a way to encourage them to use the car parks instead of street parking, which is becoming scarce under the capital’s new mobility plan.

Brussels is one of the most polluted and congested European capitals as a result of heavy vehicle traffic, and the trend of bigger, heavier cars has prompted concerns for the safety of other road users, such as cyclists and pedestrians.

With the introduction of the new mobility plan, Good Move, off-street car parks are now the most convenient, quick and safe gateway to the city centre and shopping districts, according to alderman for economic affairs Fabian Maingain.

Maingain said the free parking ticket initiative will support downtown merchants while encouraging “efficient mobility solutions”.

A total of 180,000 one-hour tickets are being distributed which are valid in the 18 partner car parks within the Pentagon area.

The parking tickets will be distributed from June onwards to the companies that registered for the promotion.

“With this action, we want to support merchants who have been severely affected by successive crises, the decline in purchasing power and competition from online commerce, and at the same time guide motorists' behavioural change by directing them to the various car parks in the city,” Maingain said.

Registered shopkeepers will be contacted by the ASBL Entreprendre Bruxelles regarding their tickets.