Auckland commuters face suggested parking tax

Thousands of workers with company carparks could be stung by a $10 daily levy to price Aucklanders out of private vehicles.

A $2.3 million Ministry of Transport study proposes that such a levy - if adopted out of five possible congestion-battling options - should cover all non-residential parking in five Auckland business districts from 6am to 10am each week day.

That means private business premises, including commercial buildings, shopping malls, hotels and supermarkets, and not just carpark buildings and kerbside spaces.

Computer modelling suggests this would remove from the central districts of Auckland, Newmarket, Manukau, Takapuna and Henderson about 22,000 of about 47,000 vehicles otherwise expected to end up there during morning peak hours by 2016.

The charge would be higher than for the other four charging options, which would be capped at a daily rate of $5 or $6 for driving in congested areas.

The ministry, which is accepting public submissions until Friday before recommending enabling legislation to the Government, has proposed a stiffer parking levy to counteract any tendency of employers to subsidise staff and thereby dilute its effect.

But the Northern Employers and Manufacturers Association predicts higher parking costs will simply be deducted from pay rises

"Employers will take it out of remuneration packages," said chief executive Alasdair Thompson.

"At the moment staff are being offered cash or a parking space, maybe worth $3000 a year. If $2500 was added to that, it would come out of any pay rise."

National Distribution Union lawyer David Fleming said the levy would take more than an hour's pay from many of his members earning the minimum pre-tax wage of $10.25 or even lower youth rates, and public transport was not generally available to shift workers.

Although ministry officials deem a parking levy the least effective option for tackling congestion, and appear to prefer charging motorists for driving around an almost 40sq km area of central Auckland, it could be adopted as an interim fundraiser.

Even road-charging advocates admit any plan to price Aucklanders out of their cars would fail unless far better public transport was available first, offering a fair alternative to driving to work or study.

But faced with a potential $700 million regional public transport spending deficit over 10 years, organisations such as the Auckland City Council are suggesting money-spinners such as a local fuel tax or parking levies could help to bridge the gap in the meantime.

They also insist in submissions to the ministry that all revenue raised from road charges, if these are introduced in possibly four to six years, be recycled, largely into public transport and to a lesser extent into roading improvements within the Auckland region.