The availability of free or cheap on-street parking has long been seen as a right for drivers, but it’s time to critically examine its true costs. While it may seem harmless, free on-street parking often comes with significant economic, environmental, and lifestyle consequences. By rethinking how we use our public space, we can create more sustainable and livable cities.
There are a few days left to have your voice heard on this exact topic! Have Your Say on Room to Move in the City Centre by 30 March 2025. Our quick suggestions include:
– encourage deliveries by bike!
– more bike parking and shared e-scooter parking areas
– widen narrow footpaths (eg. High street – or pedestrianise it?)
– more outdoor seating / eating areas and plants (eg. convert parking to outdoor dining or plants?)
– ensure adequate provision of accessible mobility parking and short stay / drop off spaces
– hire Bike Valet for medium and large events, to reduce event-related congestion
– improve parking enforcement and compliance
– ensure Room to Move delivers towards, and is in line with, the Access for Everyone plans identified in the City Centre Masterplan
The Hidden Costs of “Free” or Cheap Parking
The term “free parking” is misleading. It’s far from free. The costs of maintaining roads, cleaning streets, and the heat island effects created by the large areas of concrete are borne by residents, whether or not they drive.
Subsidising parking disadvantages everyone because it squanders valuable public space – and it reinforces car dependency. When driving is prioritised over other modes of transportation, cities experience increased traffic congestion, heat island effects, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and social isolation. These consequences not only harm the environment but also reduce quality of life for people who live, work, and visit our city centres. And, like most costs, they are heaviest on low income communities and people experiencing poverty.
Remember, more than 30% of Aucklanders don’t drive, instead largely relying on public transport, cycling, and walking. But we all pay for “free” parking, even if we don’t use it.
Inefficient Use of Space
City streets are valuable real estate, yet a significant portion of this space is devoted to storing private vehicles. Auckland parking spaces are around 12-13 square metres – and are growing to accommodate ever-larger cars. Estimates of the number of spaces vary from 23,600 to 50,000 (many in parking buildings). At a conservative estimate, that’s around 300,000 square metres – 75 football fields’ worth!
It’s bizarre that while office and residential space in the centre commands a premium, we expect parking to be available for a fraction of the cost, if not free.
Free and cheap on-street parking often leads to inefficient land use, but these spaces could be reimagined to benefit the broader community. Imagine if our street-side spaces were green spaces, cycleways, or outdoor seating areas that enhance the urban environment and promote social interaction. After all, Te Komititanga Square (outside Britomart Train Station), a space absolutely buzzing with pedestrians, events, and beautified by trees, used to be a 6 lane road with street side parking. We can provide beautiful, people friendly spaces in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
Encouraging Smarter Policies
Rethinking free on-street parking doesn’t mean eliminating parking altogether. Rather, it involves implementing smarter policies. For instance:
- Adjusting the price: Charging appropriately for on-street parking can help reflect the true cost of this resource and encourage more efficient use. The revenue generated can be reinvested into public transport and infrastructure improvements.
- Dynamic Pricing: Parking fees based on demand can spread the load away from peak surges, meaning spaces are available when needed, and total parking capacity can be less.
- Providing ‘parking opportunities’: when parking is managed to encourage shorter stays, people have more opportunities to find parking, even when there are fewer spaces – and businesses gain more customers from those spaces.
- Allowing for short stays: providing 10min pick up / drop off parking spaces and loading zones can be more appropriate in some locations than longer stay parking spots eg. outside a takeaway shop.
- Ensuring sufficient truly accessible parking: some mobility parking is woefully below standard, and does not provide accessibility for all people who need to use it.
The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) has made a great write up on how various cities internationally have managed parking to tackle climate change. Check it out here.
Image above: Bike Te Atatū goes for icecream
Image right: A trip to a Waiheke vineyard
Promoting Sustainable Transportation
Investments in public transit, cycling infrastructure, and pedestrian-friendly design can help create cities where driving is a choice, not a necessity. By managing parking to provide more parking opportunities, and reallocating space to provide for more transport options, cities can support people to choose more sustainable modes of transportation. Overall this reduces motor traffic, improves air quality, and fosters healthier, more connected communities.
A Better Future for Our Cities
Rethinking free on-street parking is about prioritizing people over cars. It’s an opportunity to reclaim urban space, improve sustainability, and ensure that resources are allocated equitably. While change is never easy, the long-term benefits of reimagining how we manage parking are well worth the effort. And, as Greater Auckland reports, most people want a people-friendly city.
By embracing more efficient public space use, we can build cities that are more enjoyable places to live, work, and play. Isn’t it time to park the old ways and pedal towards a better future?
Have Your Say on Room to Move in the City Centre by 30 March 2025.
