KEY POINTS:
Auckland City has collected an extra $3 million from its parking meters this year, because electronic payments have proved so popular. They have been so successful, in fact, that Auckland City Council now plans to roll out Eftpos on pay-and-display machines.
Figures released under the Official Information Act show revenue from pay-and-display machines have raked in $11m this year to date, up from $9m, while council coffers collected $18m from parking buildings, up from $17m.
Cellphone texting and credit cards were a convenient choice for motorists who didn't carry cash, said council parking manager Brian Tomlinson. Ten per cent of all tickets were paid for by texting, and 25 per cent by credit card.
He said Eftpos was the next step and the ease of cashless transactions meant fewer people were being fined. Since the new pay-and-display machines were installed at the end of 2006, parking fines have actually decreased by $460,000, down to $13.4m.
"Eftpos will be even easier to use. We're getting a greater level of compliance because people now have the tools," Tomlinson said.
A dozen more machines were placed in Newmarket and Grafton to stop people parking illegally around Auckland Hospital, the university and Broadway this year, but Tomlinson said pay-and-display may not spread further to the suburbs.
The solar-powered machines can be expensive to run, so instead the council is looking at restricting the time cars can be parked in the busier centres such as Kingsland, Mt Eden, Remuera, Ponsonby, Pt Chevalier, Glen Innes, Ellerslie and Panmure.
A 300-car park-and-ride in Orakei has recently been granted resource consent, which would also free up space on the surrounding residential streets where city commuters often park and then walk to work.
Tomlinson said parking officers did not target specific areas, but were just trying to achieve quick turnover of cars in the busiest streets, such as the CBD. "The city is growing at an enormous rate. The one thing most people agree on is there is a shortage of parking everywhere."
