How parking lots are arranged in Moscow

There are the following types parking spaces in Moscow: 

• free parkings;
• paid city parkings;
• intercepting parkings; 
• barrier parkings.

A free of charge parking is most often located on the outskirts of Moscow. It is usually indicated by special road markings and parking signs.

But sometimes, you may leave your car in an area with no such signs: 

• on the right side of the road — on the shoulder or on the edge of the roadway; 
• on the left side of the road — if it is a road without tram tracks, one way road, or two way road with one lane for each direction and a broken dividing line (for passenger cars only).

In both cases, the distance between the dividing line or the opposite edge of the roadway and the vehicle stopped must exceed three meters.

If there are no signs indicating the method of placing the vehicle, the car must be placed in one row, in parallel to the edge of the roadway. Motorcycles may be placed in two rows.

However, you should always remember that parking is prohibited in many places.

Parkings in Moscow’s center and on busiest streets of the outskirts are paid parkings. 

Parking fees 

The cost of paid city parking is from 40 to 450 rubles, which depends on the location. The closer to the city center, the more expensive parking is. Learn about parking fees on a particular street on the map of the Moscow Parking website. 

On Sundays, cars may be parked free of charge on streets of the city parking space zone, except for streets included in the high-fare zone. On public holidays all cars may be parked free of charge on any street of the city parking area, including high-fare zones.

Motorcycle and electric car owners may always park for free in the paid parking areas.

How to pay parking fee 

You can pay parking fee by cash or by bank transfer (only Russian rubles are accepted for payment in Russia, including in Moscow). You can pay parking fee by bank transfer:

• using the Russia Parking mobile app;
• using a parking meter, by a bank card;
• using SMS.

The Russian Parking app can be downloaded on phones running iOS, Android and Huawei. It is available in Russian and English.

When paying parking fee via mobile app or SMS per-minute charge is used. Thus, if you complete parking ahead of schedule, the money for the unused parking time is saved in the parking account and can be used to pay for next parkings.

In all other cases, the payment is made with 15 minutes accuracy.

If you park several times in the same zone with different fares from 08:00 to 21:00, the time of your parkings is summed up.

The paid parking duration may be limited by appropriate road signs.

Moscow has intercepting parkings near some metro stations, the Moscow Central Diameters (MCD) and the Moscow Central Circle (MCC). They are mostly used by those who live outside the city and get to Moscow by car, and then go to the center by metro.

To leave your car for free parking is allowed here if, within the period from 05:30 to 02:00, you make at least two travels on metro, MCC or MCD, since the time you parked your car. In this case, the first trip must be made from the station nearest to the parking. For other drivers, the fee of 1 hour parking is as follows: 06:00- 22:00 — 50 rubles, and 22:00-06:00 — 100 rubles for the entire period.

How to park a car for free 

1. Park your car in the intercepting parking and get a parking card or ticket.
2. Take metro, MCC train or MCD train to your destination, paying the travel fare by the Troika card, the Muscovite social card or the entire travel ticket. Your travel must start from the station nearest to the parking.
3. Take metro, MCC train, or MCD train to get back to the station where you left your car.
4. If you have a plastic parking card — at the exit from metro, MCC or MCD, use it as follows in yellow information terminal, if you have a paper parking ticket — pay the parking fee in the parking payment terminal.
5. Go to the parking, insert the parking card into the payment terminal. The following message will be displayed: "Карта не требует оплаты” ("The card does not require payment"). If the parking ticket is a paper one, attach to the terminal the ticket that you used for travels. Your car must leave the parking no later than 10 minutes after you confirmed your free-parking benefit.
6. To exit the parking, insert the parking card into the exit counter.

It is important to remember that you will not be able to save on parking by entering the metro station next to an intercepting parking, and immediately exiting the same metro station. You must enter a metro station next to the intercepting parking, and exit from another metro station. 

How to pay parking fee if I didn't use metro 

Such parking fee is paid according to standard procedure for all barrier parkings: at the entrance you receive a parking card that you should keep until you leave. Before leaving, you should insert your parking card into the payment terminal and pay parking fee.

Also you can pay the parking fee:  

• by a bank card using an exit parking terminal*;
• via the Russia Parking mobile app*;
• by sending an SMS message to number 7757;
• via your personal account on the website of Moscow Parking.

Your car must leave the parking no later than 10 minutes after payment of services (for all types of fares).

If you have any problems with the payment, contact the intercepting parking employees. Be aware that not all employees speak English.

There are privately owned and city-owned barrier parkings in Moscow. They are paid, including weekends and public holidays.

Private parkings (for example, next to shopping centers or on their basement) operate on an individual schedule and set their own prices. Some private barrier parkings offer the first one or two hours for free. You will have to pay for a longer stay. At night, these parkings are open if the shopping center operates around the clock. 

City barrier parkings are open 24 hours. For more information about parking fees, please use the map on the website of Moscow Parking. To do this, expand the map, click on filters in the right part of the search bar and select "Плоскостные парковки" ("Organized Parkings").

Also, each parking has fees and payment methods displayed on the information signboards at the entrance.

To enter the parking area, a driver must press the button on the entrance counter, get a parking ticket, or tap the parking key to the entrance counter reader.

To exit from the organized parking, use the parking ticket you received at the entrance, within 10 minutes after payment.

You can pay hourly parking fee in payment terminals or:

• via the Russia Parking mobile app*;
• by a bank card using an exit parking terminal*;
• by sending an SMS message to number 7757;
• via your personal account on the website of Moscow Parking.

You can find the nearest parking on the map. All city parkings including their numbers are indicated on it. To find the parking you can also use the Russia Parking app (available for iOS, Android and Huawei in Russian and English).

If you use car-sharing service, then parking in the paid city parking zone will be free for you, provided that you comply with the traffic rules. If you decide to use other types of paid parking, you will have to pay according to the fare.

The unpaid parking fine in Moscow paid city parking zones is 5,000 rubles. But the car will not be impounded.

The wrong parking fine varies from 3,000 to 5,000 rubles. Some violations are punished by evacuating the car. According to the law, the car owner pays for its impoundment and storage in a special parking zone.

If you have more questions to ask about parking in Moscow, you can search for answers on the website of Moscow Parking.

Or you can contact specialists of the Moscow Transport service centers: 

• at phone numbers: 8 (495) 539-54-54 or 3210 using mobile phone;
• in person (daily from 08:00 to 20:00) at the following address: 20, Staraya Basmannaya Street, building 1, Moscow.

Be aware that not all employees speak English.

You can also ask your questions by calling the round-the-clock hotline of the Moscow Tourist Information Support Center: 8 (495) 122-01-11 (for mobile and local phones).

The call is paid in accordance with the pricing of the subscriber's operator. Call center operators speak both Russian and English.