New parking machines to hit Auckland streets

Aucklanders will now be able to punch their registration number into council parking machines to pay.

It means they won't need to walk back to their cars to put a ticket in their windscreens.

The new machines will be rolled out in stages, the first to hit the streets of Ponsonby this week.

They will be rolled out in Newmarket next month, followed by Parnell, Kingsland and Remuera before Christmas. The city centre, Takapuna, Manukau and Eden Terrace will get the machines early next year.

The new technology for Auckland Transport's 810 on-street parking machines replaces Text-a-Park but customers can download the AT Park phone app to pay for parking.

"Not only will these new machines save you time, they use technology that's very similar to the way you pay for everyday items like coffee," said John Strawbridge, Auckland Transport group manager of parking services and compliance.

Motorists will have the choice of machines that use coins, credit cards or cards that have payWave. About 10 per cent machines will only accept cards.

The price of parking will not change and and receipts can be emailed to customers who require them for work purposes.

Strawbridge said the ap had been downloaded 27,000 times.

"Our customers like the start and stop function. It's taken away the need to guess how much time you need to pay for."

The new machines are already used in some private car parks in Auckland and in Tauranga and Christchurch.