City Centre Parking - On Street Pricing Changes

There has been recent media coverage about planned price increases to on-street parking in the city centre. The price increases, expected to be implemented in June, are in line with a demand based approach to managing on-street parking in the city introduced in 2012, following consultation with businesses and Heart of the City.

Heart of the City supported this supply and demand approach to parking, successfully used in other cities such as San Francisco, which sees pricing going up when demand is high (and down when demand is low) recognising that parking had to be better managed to service business needs in the city. The approach aims to ensure that there is between 10-30% of on-street carparking spaces available.

Demand for premium on-street parking during the weekday in the city centre has increased (in some cases there is 94% occupancy during peak times), meaning that it's harder to find on-street parking spaces for short-term visits – whether it be for business appointments or for customers to come into the city to enjoy our thriving hospitality, retail and attraction businesses. The planned pricing changes during the weekday aim to make it easier for people to find a park, as well as encouraging people to park for shorter times - leading to higher turnover and availability.

Some of the media coverage talks about a significant cost increase for all day parking in the city centre’s streets. Given that on-street parking is at a premium, and is limited, it must be prioritised for short term use, not for long term or commuter parking. Whilst the approach to managing parking is about ensuring occupancy is at the right level to ensure parking spaces are available, the pricing structure should also actively encourage those needing to access the city by car for longer visits to park in off-street carpark buildings, or alternatively consider other ways of coming into the city including by public transport, walking or cycling at peak times.

There is no change to off-peak or weekend parking rates or the current daytime $3 an hour rate in Auckland Transport’s carpark buildings.

Background informaiton on the demand based parking strategy can be found here. 

We will let businesses know as soon as possible about the timing and final detail of the planned pricing changes. If you have any thoughts or feedback on parking in the city centre we’d love to hear from you. Please contact us here.