Resident Parking Zone to be rolled out in Freemans Bay

Parking in the central suburbs has become a serious issue, with locals and commuters jostling for precious parking spaces. The latest research from Auckland Transport shows there are more free carparks in Freemans Bay than the Civic Carpark in Aotea Square and during the working day Freemans Bay has more than 80% occupancy.

Waitemata Local Board Member Rob Thomas says “It’s time that we kick out commuters from resident streets in the inner-city and encourage people to us public transport. Our residential streets are not parking lots.”

With parking in the city becoming increasingly expensive, suburbs with free parking have seen an influx of city commuters searching for all day parking. The link buses have unfortunately exacerbated this problem; turning leafy suburbs into park and ride services into the city. Residents are struggling to access their homes, with no off-street parking, and commuters are forced to compete for free parking.

Mr Thomas says “Cars hawk local neighborhoods looking for free car parking. Wellington has had resident only parking for years and now is the time for Auckland to roll this out across the inner-city.”

The planned residential parking zone is planned to be rolled out by Auckland Transport in June this year. The scheme will have a 2-hour parking time-restriction (P120) that applies Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. Residents and businesses within the zone can apply for permits and coupons that give exemption from the time-restriction. A permit costs $70 and is valid for one year. Electronic coupons are also available for trades people and visitors.

Mr Thomas says “The 2-hour parking time-restriction should free-up more parking for shoppers to Ponsonby but commuters will need to start making alternative transport choices.”

Mr Thomas has concerns that Auckland Transport will not be able to meet the demand with recent cancellations of trains and regional buses reaching full capacity.

“Displacing thousands of commuters from the inner-city needs to be backed-up with reliable, frequent, affordable and high-occupancy public transport choice. We need to see more public transport investment in the region with more park-and-ride facilities at train stations and on busways.”

For more information about the Freemans Bay Residential Parking Zone visit https://at.govt.nz/driving-parking/parking-consultations/freemans-bay-residential-parking-zone/

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