Drive for parking changes
Can changes to parking make for amore liveable city? Auckland Transport’s draft parking discussion document outlines plans to discourage commuter parking, adopt more paid parking in town centres and phase out parking on some arterial roads. Reporters Kari
ITCHING earlybird parking in Auckland Transport car parks could free space for people nipping to the shops or heading to a meeting, innercity business associations say.
Heart of the City chief executive Alex Swney says his organisation supports the proposal.
A lot of council-owned offstreet car park space is longterm commuter parking at a daily rate of less than $1.50 an hour, he says.
‘‘In effect it is saying: ‘ Get in your car and add to the congestion’. Many still think parking in the city should be free.
‘‘Even diehards of this pos- ition will change their mind when they find that the limited parking stock we have is taken up by the first car into the carpark on any given day.’’
Auckland Transport proposes adjusting on-street parking prices depending on the level of demand. This means in some areas parking prices could go either up or down.
Karangahape Rd Business Association manager Barbara Holloway is all for it.
The downtown parking payment system where prices are hiked up after the second hour is working well, she says.
‘‘You pay more the longer you stay and that means for people like me who want to pop in for half an hour and do something, there actually started being some space.’’
This benefits bars and restaurants which previously suffered from a lack of parking because of residents and visitors parking all night after 6pm, she says.