6.1.2. Ombudsman’s decisions non favourable to complainants Cases Q-1767/16 and Q-3059/15 Entities addressed: Lisbon Municipality and Lisbon’s Mobility and Parking Municipal Company (EMEL) Dates: 2016.04.11 and 2016.05.24 Status: Installation of bollards to prevent car parking on the sidewalks. Parking areas for residents The Ombudsman received a complaint against the Lisbon City Council requesting the installation of automatic bollards in order to prevent abusive car parking on the sidewalks. He also received a complaint against Lisbon’s Mobility and Parking Municipal Company regarding the creation of parking areas exclusively for residents. In the first case, the complainant was informed that, according to the applicable law, local authorities are given extensive powers in respect of traffic planning and management. Therefore, the Ombudsman may not censure the choices made by municipalities in this regard or assess their adequacy to pursue public interest. In respect of traffic planning and management, only Public Administration has a comprehensive vision of its attributions as well as of the resources available and of the technical contingencies that result from the solutions implemented. The Ombudsman also clarified that this margin of local autonomy can only be evaluated through political means, in particular, by electoral suffrage. Another complaint was received about the establishment of parking areas for residents in the city of Lisbon. The complainant considered that there was a clear disadvantage to non-residents since the constraints to parking that justified the creation of areas exclusively for residents was limited to a certain period of time. Therefore, other drivers could not use the many available car places during the remaining hours. Following inquiries made with Lisbon’s Mobility and Parking Municipal Company, the Ombudsman concluded that, beside the provisions of the General Parking Regulations in the City of Lisbon, the definition of parking areas for residents is based on specific requirements that include: the low demand for short-term parking in predominantly residential areas with no relevant commerce and services activities, the high demand for residential parking and the conclusions reached in studies carried out by local councils and municipal services. It was concluded that the creation of parking areas for residents was based upon fixed criteria related to the specific characteristics of each location and to needs of the population. • | 115