Sunday, May 04, 2008

One set of price rises I'm happy about

(hattip: NZ Herald)

Daily parking fees for central Auckland workers can reach almost seven times those in outer Auckland, a Herald on Sunday survey has found.

Drivers who pay the earlybird rate at Wilson Parking's ANZ Centre on Albert St pay $20 - compared with $3 for all-day street parking in neighbouring Manukau and Waitakere.

Compare those hefty fees with Hamilton, where one Wilson car park charges $2 for the first hour, and $4.50 to $6.50 for earlybird parking, depending on the day. In Wellington, earlybirds spots at Wilson's Cuba St carpark cost only $8, while in Hereford St, Christchurch, parks cost $4 an hour, or $10 for earlybirds. In Dunedin, you can park for up to 10 hours in a Wilson car park for $7, while Nelson's council parking lots charge just 50c an hour.


All I can think is that it is about time the Auckland City Council stopped using our rates to subsidize the parking costs of others. Lets face it - why do the apartment dwellers of Auckland City Central - or all those that live within the boundaries of ACC (Auckland City Council) have to subsidise the true costs of parking for all those North Shore residents and Manukau City residents who choose to work in the city? Because ultimately working outside the CBD is a movement that should be cherished - letting people pay the true commercial cost of parking will ultimately help to ease congestion and improve CBD property prices as public transport usage increases, people working alternative hours increases, and businesses ultimately start relocating as employee pressure mounts.

All of which is good for the economy, households and environment.

The only people who lose out of this are those too thick to follow the point that paying through rates is still paying. And judging from Labours current polling we might be finally getting that message through.