Amsterdam drivers must pay city center parking meters to 4 a.m.

Motorists parking their cars in Amsterdam city center will soon have to pay the parking meters through to 4:00 a.m. The municipality hopes that this will discourage especially night-clubbers from parking on the street, Het Parool reports. Currently it costs motorists 5 euros per hour to park on the Amsterdam City Center streets from Monday to Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. and on Sundays from noon to 2:00 a.m. During the early morning hours, parking is free. The municipality investigated and found that many of the cars parked in the area do not belong to local residents, especially on party nights. At around 4:00 a.m. most of these cars left the area. The board for district City Center initially wanted paid parking 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That proposal was rejected because the cost of enforcement during the early morning hours outweigh the money that would be made by charging for parking in those hours.