Some businesses 'blindsided' by changes to Auckland parking fees

Auckland Transport has come under heavy criticism from CBD residents and businesses following its decision to introduce new 24-hour parking charges in the central city from July 1.

Drivers will now be charged $2 to $3 to park overnight, where previously parking had been free in many parts of the city on Sundays and outside the hours of 8am-6pm.

Auckland Transport chief executive Dean Kimpton said the new charges are a commercial approach to find savings, implemented by Auckland Council.

"We are looking at how to both reduce the costs to serve Aucklanders, but also where we need to increase prices. And that could be on public transport, in parking and other areas."

He said Mayor Wayne Brown and Auckland Council have asked Auckland Transport to find $73 million in savings across the next 12 months.

"Since then, there has been this constant discussion all the way through the long-term plan debate, which has been in public consultation about parking and increases. We've given everybody two months' notice that this is coming in," he said.

Kimpton said he stands by the consultation process and had personally spoken to Brown about the city's parking strategy two weeks ago to ensure he was on board.

"We have been trying our best to communicate this for two months. The information is out there."

Viv Beck from business association Heart of the City said people have been "blindsided" by the decision and said it will drive people out of the city centre.

"We're not challenging the fact that they are wanting to look at parking charges, it's the way it's been done, it's blindsided us.

"This was completely out of the blue for us."

She said the change is "unreasonable" given everything Auckland businesses are dealing with, citing major construction, Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis.

"We were briefed early last week on this. It is out of step for us, in our view, with the way that parking has been managed in that it was based on demand. We've asked for demand figures, and we haven't been given that, as of yet."

Beck said there is a "whole range of things" that need to be considered, including the impacts for people who come to work at night.

"The nighttime economy is worth half a billion dollars a year and it should be growing, we're all recognising, council-group recognise, the importance of growing it. If public transport did operate reliably and safely 24/7, we probably wouldn't even have to have this conversation. But it doesn't."

Kimpton said the night-time economy is "super important to Auckland" and he understood the concern of overnight hospitality and shift workers who require a safe space to park.

"What we say is that as we move to address parking prices across the region, we've started with that location that has the best public transport services available, day and night."

Auckland Transport will be introducing 24/7 paid parking in the City Centre Parking Zone (CCPZ) by the end of June 2024.

Paid parking in the city centre's three parking zones will be extended to weekends, public holidays and overnight.

Some of the new tariffs are as follows:

These changes will be effective from July 1, 2024.