As a pensioner Ron Judd's Gold Card gets him free rides after 9am, but by then the Park and Ride is full. Photo / Dean Purcell
As a pensioner Ron Judd's Gold Card gets him free rides after 9am, but by then the Park and Ride is full. Photo / Dean Purcell
An Auckland commuter who says he's been fined three times in a fortnight says there is not enough spaces at Albany's Park and Ride to cope with growing demand.
But Auckland Transport says the site's 1235 spaces are enough, with 135 spots added this year, along with 700 street parking spots nearby.
Ronald Judd, 67, says he has received three fines - totalling $190 - in the past two weeks.
Judd, who works six days a week as manager at a CBD restaurant, said the free parking area near the bus station was full when he arrived about 9am each day.
So too were the paid private parking area nearby and surrounding streets.
As a pensioner, Judd had a Gold Card, meaning after 9am his bus fare was free. But even by 7.30am there were few spaces at the Park and Ride, he said.
He would happily pay for parking, but there was none available.
"The situation is just getting ridiculous. They want to increase the amount of people using public transport, but then are fining the people who are trying to do so."
As nobody who wanted to use the buses could park in the area, buses after that time were less than half full, he said.
Previously he had been parking on a grass berm, along with other drivers, but since August 19 Auckland Transport had begun enforcing its regulations prohibiting such activity.
"Yesterday I returned to my vehicle and I along with several others had all received fines.
"AT says there is sufficient parking. They are not in the real world."
Judd lived in the hilly area of Fairview Heights, which was about an hour walk to the Park and Ride, and more than 40 minutes to get to a feeder bus. Driving to the Park and Ride was his only option, he said.
He wanted to see proper parking. AT spokesman Mark Hannan said building new parking spaces was expensive. The average cost was $18,000 per park on the ground, and $60,000 in a building - plus land acquisition costs.
New spaces were added at Albany this year so Hannan believed there was enough parking. There were also about 700 parks on the street, and a number of private car parks near the station, he said.
Parking staff said there were empty parking spots about 500m from the station, although Judd said this was not the case.
AT began enforcing parking regulations near the Park and Ride on August 19, as motorists had been wrecking berms and parking over footpaths, Hannan said.
On the first day, 42 infringements were issued for parking on the berm and 11 for parking on the footpath. But since then there had been "dramatic" improvements, Hannan said.
"Auckland Transport will do a review of parking levels in Albany early in the New Year but, so far, there has been a very positive improvement in parking behaviour in the area and we believe there is sufficient parking," Hannan said.
Transport and urban issues commentary group Greater Auckland spokesman Matt Lowrie said rather than build more car parks the city should work better with what it already had.
"Currently the system rewards those who can get in early, but those with families and/or children to drop off at school for example, or those who want to arrive later, suffer."
Research showed building new spaces at park and rides did little to increase public transport use, was not economical, and took up prime land that could be used for housing, Lowrie said.
Ron Judd says the situation at Albany's Park and Ride is "ridiculous". Photo / Dean Purcell
He suggested introducing dynamic pricing at park and rides, with low prices early and then increasing through the morning.
This would discourage people from using park and rides who did not really need them, and mean spaces were still available for people arriving later, Lowrie said.
"It is about getting the most out of the resource. We cannot just keep building more and more car parks."
Hannan said AT did not currently charge at park and rides, but would not rule it out long term.
