New public parking prices for much of Auckland have caught some motorists by surprise.
From Monday, Auckland Transport (AT) is upping its parking prices by 50 cents an hour.
Some areas of the city that had already seen a recent price increase including Devonport, Westgate, Eden Terrace South, Freemans Bay, Edgerley Ave in Parnell, and McNaughton Way and Delta Avenue in New Lynn, are excluded from the change.
Before the blanket change in AT's paid parking areas, the price to park varied between $0.50 to $6.00 for a single hour, depending on where in the region you parked.
"I wasn't aware it had gone up that much, but I'd heard on the news that prices were going up," said Craig Miller, who travels to the centre city between two to three times a week.
"But what isn't going up these days, that's the thing, you know, so I don't see the rates coming down, that's for sure."
He doesn't think it'll put people off parking in certain areas, despite the increase in cost.
"I think it's just, you know, if you've got to be here, you've got to be here, and I have to come in for work, and so it's just a fact of having to pay what it is," he said.
Aimee Kamphurs said she travelled into Auckland's CBD to spend her birthday with her kids, forking out $27 for public parking in Wynyard Quarter.
"It did hurt a bit, yeah, I'm not going to lie.
"It was like, oh cool, nice, the first hour's free and then it just kind of kept going, 27 bucks later."
She said the price hike had put her off trying to park in town again.
"Oh yeah, definitely, especially when it's not all the time, you know, I'm not here making money or anything.
"I would normally take the trains, but they're all closed and also I hear that they're going up as well, so it kind of makes you not really want to go anywhere."
Today's public parking price changes coincide with passenger trains in Auckland not running from 12 April to 27 April, as work persists ahead of the City Rail Link opening next year.
KiwiRail said it would allow crews to build critical upgrades and complete major infrastructure on the Auckland underground.
Niki Smith drove to Auckland's city centre from Red Beach, north of Auckland.
"I had no idea that was happening. I already thought it was expensive, so yeah, that's kind of scary.
"When we come in, I mean, it's generally always an expensive day out anyway, you know, with everything that you do when you're in town.
"So yeah, the parking going up is going to certainly add to that. It's stressful."
She said the price changes were beginning to make her re-think where she parks her car.
"Particularly, you know, if you're going to be parking for a number of hours, it starts to add up, for sure," said the Red Beach resident.
Auckland Transport declined to be interviewed today by RNZ about the 50 cents an hour increase to public parking.
Instead, it referred RNZ to its media release on 31 March about the price changes.
In that release, AT parking services manager John Strawbridge said demand for parking across the city remained high.
He said the cost for AT to run and maintain the city's parking had increased and it needed more money to fund services without increasing rates.
"Our operational costs have gone up by 13 percent, and we are responding to approximately 30 percent more requests from Aucklanders to respond to issues that are frustrating them, such as blocked driveways, footpaths, and clearways.
"We've also been investing in technology infrastructure and compliance tools to ensure parking spaces are used as intended and we are responsive to issues on the network.
"Public parking prices are adjusted sustainably and in several ways. The annual review looks at data including market conditions, economic conditions, operating costs, and considers socio-economic factors. We also make adjustments to prices based on demand and do this throughout the year.
"This is similar to the approach taken each year to review public transport fares, which we also changed recently and ensures that users are paying a small share of the costs of running and maintaining Auckland's parking, so that this doesn't fall on ratepayers.
"Auckland Council is striving to keep rate increases low, and a small increase in parking prices is one way we are supporting this."
AT's parking prices last increased in August 2023, by $1 an hour.
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