Officials had a later introduction in mind, but the EU has again reminded city hall that the deadline is the end of 2015, as agreed in the contract for financing construction of the city’s fourth metro line.

Under the existing plans, drivers will have to pay a fee to take their vehicles into central Buda and Pest.

The boundaries of the zone in Buda will almost certainly be Budafoki út, Október 23 utca, Bocskai út, Karolina út, Villányi út, Budaörsi út, Alkotás utca, Krisztina körút and Margit körút. On the Pest side either the grand boulevard Nagykörút or the outer ring road Hungária körút will form the border.

The charge will be Ft 700 rather than the earlier proposed Ft 500. An annual pass would cost Ft 115,000.

If Budapest fails to introduce such a fee, then the city would have to give back 5-20% of the subsidy, meaning Ft 9-36 billion, Népszabadság calculates.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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