KEY POINTS:
A one-day stay at one of Auckland's most expensive carparks will cost you the same as a bus fare from Auckland to Te Awamutu - or two adult movie tickets to a new-release film. But things could be even worse in the capital.
An Auckland Regional Council survey officially lists the Westfield carpark building in Morrow St, Newmarket, as Auckland's most expensive, charging $28 for a daily park.
That's more than double the average daily $11.40 price in the CBD and almost four times the $7.17 average rate in Takapuna.
In Wellington, as our table shows, motorists can expect to pay as much as $8 an hour.
But Auckland CBD workers told the Herald that Morrow St didn't come close to being the most expensive in the city.
They knew of parking buildings near Queen St which cost more than $30 for only three hours.
The Newmarket carpark does offer two hours' free parking for people who buy goods at nearby 277 Broadway but, in contrast, a daily uncovered carpark at Tournament Parking's railway land or the neighbouring Ngaoho carpark will set you back just $4.
The survey showed parking prices in casual or temporary carparks in central Auckland ($5.60 an hour) were more than double the $2.75 an hour charged in North Shore City.
Parking space in the central city was also at a premium with an on-street CBD carpark costing $4 an hour with a one-hour maximum stay in zone one.
This compares with an average metered fare in Newmarket of $2.11 and $1 in Takapuna.
People spoken to by the Herald agreed almost unanimously that prices for carparks were too expensive but the free ones were not worth the trouble of finding.
Liz Minogue, 49, formerly of Milford but resident in Gisborne for the past 15 years, preferred to use public transport rather than face the hassle of carparking in central Auckland.
"In Gisborne it costs 40c an hour to park in the CBD," said the secondary school teacher.
Auckland City Council's transport integration manager, Chris Geerlings, said "in theory" there should be no free carparking spaces in the CBD area. But he conceded there were probably a few around and people would probably try to guard them like secret fishing spots.
