Salzburg's inner-city driving ban for tourists shows results – Park-and-Ride in high demand

Mayor Bernhard Auinger expressed his conviction on Tuesday that the summer regulation is working. „Die Sommerregelung funktioniert", versichert der SPÖ-Stadtchef von Salzburg am Dienstag. „Das vielfach angekündigte Verkehrschaos ist ausgeblieben." On the contrary: Especially in Maxglan and Riedenburg, it is clearly evident that the summer regulation takes pressure off the traffic system and delivers noticeable relief, the mayor emphasized.

Park-and-Ride as an alternative

City councillor for transport Anna Schiester of the Green citizens' list pointed to the sharply increased demand for the Park-and-Ride facilities on the city's outskirts. „Die deutlich bessere Auslastung zeigt, dass unser Park-and-Ride-Angebot bei den Menschen ankommt", sagt Verkehrsstadträtin Anna Schiester von der grünen Bürgerliste. „Wir schaffen eine konkrete Alternative: Auto abstellen und unkompliziert mit den Öffis weiterfahren."

Concrete figures support the trend. At the Designer Outlet Center, 572 tickets were issued by 11 July, an increase of 117 percent compared to the same period in 2025. At the Salzburg Süd facility, just under 1,000 tickets were sold, corresponding to a 50 percent increase compared to 2025. At the airport, as many tickets were sold in the first two weeks of July as in the entire month of July 2025, and the Messeparkplatz is also recording more combination tickets sold.

Controls and accompanying measures

Together with the driving ban in the inner city, an attractive offer has also been introduced: The P&R ticket costs 7.50 euros and is valid for 24 hours. „7,50 Euro beträgt der Tagestarif für Pkw in einer der Anlagen, das schließt aber auch Öffi-Tickets für bis zu fünf Personen ein. Damit setzt er sich über den Gemeinderat hinweg und verstärkt das Klischee, dass für die Festspiele alles gerichtet wird." (Stefanie Ruep, 21.07.2026)

The city itself is deploying five employees of a security service to help car drivers at sensitive locations. A so-called camera-based traffic detection system, which registers and – anonymously – evaluates the volume of vehicles, is also being used for the first time in Salzburg. The police described the implementation of the summer regulation as „weitgehend ruhig und friktionsfrei".

Outlook: Review in autumn

For „belastbare Aussagen im Hinblick auf Verkehrszählungen", however, the data situation after three weeks is still too vague. A comprehensive review, based on the evaluation of traffic flows, is to be presented at the end of summer. „Sie zeigt transparent, was die Regelung bewirkt hat und wo wir weiter ansetzen können", betont Auinger.

On average, around 12,000 cars per day previously drove through the Neutor into Salzburg's inner city, which will in any case be closed to traffic from September due to the festival construction site. The city government wants to achieve 1,000 fewer trips per day as a result. „Gleichzeitig halte ich verstärkte Kontrollen im August für wichtig – auch als klares Signal, dass die Verkehrsregeln eingehalten werden müssen." According to the police, controls are carried out as part of regular patrol duty.

In August, unusually large numbers of day visitors and day-trippers usually come to the provincial capital – precisely the target group that will be most affected by the regulation. The regulation initially applies until 31 August. If successful, it will likely be reintroduced next year.