Pricey parking for Aucklanders

Aucklanders sick of paying through the nose for car parking should consider moving to Timaru or Palmerston North where a park costs 1200 per cent less per hour.

New Zealand’s largest public parking provider, Wilson Parking, operates more than 300 parking facilities nationwide, parking about 50,000 vehicles daily.

The Kiwi branch of the parking giant is owned by Singapore-based Wilson Parking Holdings, which was established in 1979.

In central Wellington, Wilson Parking charges $10 per hour or $45 all day while in downtown Auckland it charges $13 per hour or $45.50 for 12 hours.

The eye-watering amount seems hard to believe when compared to the $1 per hour Wilson Parking charges for the same service in Timaru and Palmerston North.

It even seems on the steep side when compared to major international cities.

A park in the heart of London, next to the London Bridge, costs £9.50 (NZ$17.74) per hour or £38 for 24 hours.

Auckland parking is nearly on par with the car-mad city of Los Angeles where one hour of downtown parking costs US$10 per hour (NZD$14.11).

Wilson Parking charges about the same in Melbourne and Perth as it does in Auckland.

Companies Office records show that in the year to June 30, 2015 Wilson Parking New Zealand made a $6 million profit, a 122 per cent increase on the year before.

Wilson did not want to be interviewed for this story, but in a written statement said a challenge facing the industry was improving the parking services.

It was investing in car park guidance systems and recently developed ParkMate - a mobile app that allows customers to pay for parking without having to use a machine.

The company has been in business for more than 50 years and employs about 300 staff in New Zealand.

Technology is starting to provide Auckland motorists with new paid parking options beyond council parks and commercial parking buildings.

Apps such as Parkable and ParkBubble have entered the market over the last year, allowing the public to rent out their privately owned parking spaces.