According to the national economic vitality survey, in Lahti, as in other cities, the downward trend in vitality development has come to a halt over the past year. The numerous restaurants, cafés and shops in Lahti’s city centre attract residents to spend time, shop and enjoy themselves.
However, the business community has been concerned that charging for parking in the city centre would have discouraged people from shopping there on Saturdays.
The City of Lahti is organizing a six-month trial where on Saturdays you can park on the streetside in the city centre’s 1 and 2 zone at half price. There will be no change to the charges in zone 3, where there will be no charge on Saturdays. In the super-charging zone on Aleksanterinkatu, prices will remain unchanged.
The city wants the experiment to support the vitality and vibrancy of the city centre. Supporting entrepreneurs and increasing the vitality and attractiveness of the city centre are also part of the city centre vision.
The aim is also to provide information to support urban planning on whether halving parking charges will have a real impact on visitor numbers in the city centre. Parking facilities are outside the scope of the experiment. The experiment will be monitored both during and at the end of the trial.
The boundaries of the zones can be seen on the map on the city’s website. All parking spaces in the city centre are available on the city’s map service. Saturday discounts are available both for mobile and card-based payments.