5th Grade Polluting Vehicles Parking Fee Increased by 50%... Parking Volume Decreased by 84%

Seoul City Confirms 3-Month Effects of 'Fine Dust Seasonal Management System' Implementation

On the 1st, citizens including the Seoul Model Drivers Association held a campaign at Gwanghwamun Intersection in Seoul to encourage participation in the restriction of operation for Grade 5 emission vehicles in the Green Transportation Zone. Starting from this day, Seoul City will pilot the operation restriction for Grade 5 emission vehicles within the Green Transportation Promotion Area inside the Four Gates of Seoul (16.7 km² within Hanyangdoseong). Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Seoul City announced on the 9th that as a measure under the 'Fine Dust Seasonal Management System,' the parking fees for Grade 5 vehicles were increased by 50% at 106 city-operated parking lots from January to March, resulting in an 84% decrease in the number of Grade 5 vehicles parked compared to before.

During the three months when the fee surcharge was applied, the average daily number of Grade 5 vehicles at these parking lots was 83, a decrease of 83.5% (421 vehicles) compared to an average of 504 vehicles per day in December last year before the surcharge.

In particular, at 22 city-operated parking lots within the 'Green Transportation Zones' such as Sejong-ro and Cheonggyecheon, where the permanent driving restriction for Grade 5 vehicles has been in effect since December last year, parking of Grade 5 vehicles sharply dropped by 89.4% (from 141 to 15 vehicles).

Also, as a result of uniformly increasing parking fees by 25% for all vehicles (50% for Grade 5 vehicles) during the fine dust seasonal management period, the total number of parked vehicles in city-operated parking lots in the Green Transportation Zones decreased by an average of 8.0% (from 7,679 to 7,062 vehicles) compared to December last year, and by an average of 7.0% (from 7,597 to 7,062 vehicles) compared to the same month last year.

The rate of decrease in the number of parked vehicles was 4.1% in January, and further decreased to 9.9% and 9.8% in February and March respectively, which the city analyzed as a combined effect of the parking fee increase and the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Seoul City believes that through parking demand management policies, the significant reduction of pollution-causing Grade 5 vehicles and the suppression of vehicle driving demand within the Green Transportation Zones have had a practical effect on alleviating downtown congestion and reducing fine dust.

Park Jong-su, Director of Transportation Planning at Seoul City, said, “During the fine dust seasonal management period, it was confirmed that the increase in parking fees at city-operated parking lots reduced the parking demand of Grade 5 pollution vehicles and general vehicles. We plan to promote various traffic demand management measures, including improvements to parking fees, along with permanent driving restrictions for Grade 5 vehicles in the Green Transportation Zones.”