Auckland Transport has stirred up controversy with its plans to make people pay for parking in the CBD 24 hours a day, every day. So, how does the rest of the country compare when it comes to parking in a city centre?
Parts of Auckland’s CBD are currently free for people to park overnight and on Sundays, but that’s set to change.
People will be charged between $2 to $3 per hour to park in the CBD overnight from July 1, depending on which zone they are in. The city’s Wynyard Quarter may be exempt from these overnight charges until the hobbled Wynyard Bridge reopens.
Paid parking will also be introduced into those same city centre zones on Sundays and public holidays. Put simply, there won’t be a time where it will be free to park in downtown Auckland.
The move has been met with criticism from CBD residents, who say they won’t be able to afford to park near their homes, and inner-city businesses, who say the move will drive people out of the city centre.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown told the Herald on Sunday he wasn’t aware Auckland Transport (AT) planned to implement the parking changes, however AT chief executive Dean Kimpton told Breakfast yesterday he had spoken to the mayor about Auckland’s parking strategy.
Kimpton said the charges were a commercial approach to finding savings.
A Letter of Expectation Auckland Transport received from Mayor Brown in December last year also asked for an increase in revenue from things such as parking charges.
"I want to see increased revenue from enforcement and parking," it said.
So, as Aucklanders come to terms with a big change in parking in its CBD, 1News checked in on other city centres to see what their parking fees were like.
Auckland Transport told Breakfast that Auckland's central city businesses had been informed of the changes two months in advance. (Source: Breakfast)
Hamilton
Parking on the street in Hamilton’s city centre is a bargain for the first two hours. Drivers get those hours free, although they still must activate the car park through an app or electronic parking meter.
After that, the hourly rate climbs to a much steeper $6 an hour for a maximum of four hours.
The metered parking applies from Monday to Saturday, 8am to 8pm. Parking on public holidays and Sundays is still free.
Tauranga
Tauranga’s paid parking currently applies to weekdays only – parking in the city centre is free all weekend (and on public holidays).
During the week, on-street parking rates apply between 8am and 5pm. The first two hours are $2 per hour, with the rate increasing to $5 an hour after that.
Wellington
The capital charges for city street parking seven days a week, from 8am to 8pm.
The hourly charge ranges from $3 to $5, depending on which part of the CBD people are parking in.
Parking is free on public holidays.
Christchurch
Parking is also free in the Christchurch CBD on public holidays.
The hours that parking meters operate differ across the city, but the flat rate for those on-street meters is $4.60 an hour.
Dunedin
Dunedin charges for on-street parking from 9am to 6pm, Mondays through Saturdays.
The city is divided into zones, with a one-hour maximum park for $3.50 in its core zone.
Parking then varies from $1.50 an hour in the outer zone to $3.50 an hour in the inner zone.
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