Bilbao
Challenge
How can Bilbao improve the mobility of patients, especially older adults and people with reduced mobility, when accessing health centres?
CURRENT SITUATION
In Bilbao, health care centres generate high parking demand during medical appointment hours. Currently, the spaces near these facilities are often occupied by vehicles unrelated to medical appointments, which leads to:
- Difficult access for elderly people or people with reduced mobility.
- Delays in reaching appointments due to lack of available parking.
- Increased traffic from vehicles circulating in search of space, worsening local congestion and emissions.
- Conflicts between patients, local residents, and other users.
The current on-street parking system (regulated by the parking and stopping ordinance) does not prioritise healthcare-related parking and does not include mechanisms to manage or enforce preferential use near health centres.
Bilbao is currently working on a new regulation of public space in the city centre, which includes time limits, a reservation scheme and promoting rotation for on-street parking near health centres in order to give priority to patients (especially elderly people and those with reduced mobility). The updated regulation is expected to be in force by June 2026.
The city seeks to explore how technology can support these regulatory changes by providing digital solutions for reservations and control points, ensuring smooth access for patients to health care centres. Bilbao aims to test software-based solutions that help manage access, support enforcement, improve space turnover, and provide data for decision-making—all with the goal of ensuring smoother and more accessible mobility for patients travelling to health care centres.
Area: Health care centre area of Osakidetza within the municipality of Bilbao.
DESIRED SITUATION
Development of a digital management system and automated monitoring of on-street parking near Osakidetza health care centres, aimed at:
- System usage rate
- Parking compliance with access regulations
- Increased parking rotation
- Reduced illegal parking in restricted areas
- Improved citizen satisfaction regarding access to health centres
