From zero to $2.50 an hour parking on the cards for Wellington motorcyclists

Tuesday, 28 May 2024

Motorcyclist Chris Rawson with his Indian FTR Carbon 1200 bike, which he uses to commute to Wellington from South Wairarapa.

London: free. Sydney: free. San Francisco: mostly free. Wellington: $20 to park a motorcycle in the central city for an 8-hour day.

Wairarapa rider Chris Rawson was among motorcyclists to take issue with a proposal on the table at Wellington City Council that would see motorcyclists charged up to $2.50 an hour for parking.

“Even with a population over 40 times that of Wellington, and some of the most notoriously bad traffic on Earth, London doesn’t charge motorcyclists for parking,” Rawson wrote in his submission to the draft long term plan.

The proposal will go to a vote on Thursday after council officers recommended the charge following part of the council’s long-term planning consultation.

Motorcycle parking is free in London, so why can’t Wellington keep it free, some riders are asking.

Rawson told The Post the council had made several attempts to introduce motorcycle parking charges since 2004. “It was just a matter of time before the council felt bold enough to just go ahead and do it, regardless of public sentiment, and it appears that time has now come.”

An agenda for Thursday’s long-term planning committee meeting said parking demand on the central city parking network was increasing “and this needs to be appropriately managed”.

“Demand in the CBD is consistently over 85%, turnover is low, time limits are often exceeded, and non compliance is relatively high. For these reasons officers recommend that the fee be introduced.”

At $2.50 an hour, Wellington motorcycle parking could be up to half as much as car parking per hour in the CBD.

Rawson provided official information from the council to go with this submission that revealed the council’s motorcycle parking bays cost a total of $139,000 to maintain over the past decade, or $13,900 each year.

The metering revenue the council expect from the scheme was $737,000, which was 53 times higher than the current cost of maintaining motorcycle parking, he said.

Asked how this was fair, council spokesperson Richard MacLean said: “As far as we're concerned it’s just the same as motorists packing their private car in a car parking space … I think the maintenance angle is irrelevant.

Wellington rider Mark Solly who made a submission on the proposed parking charges on behalf of hundreds of local riders, some of whom said the charges would stop them from affording basic neccessities.

“Councillors will vote yes or no … then [if yes] they’ll have to go through the traffic resolution process which would then require a whole new submissions process,” MacLean said.

But while council officers have recommended the charges, councillors will determine whether the proposal goes on the scrap heap with the suburban parking plan, which would have seen metered parking introduced in a handful of suburbs. Council officers have recommended this be axed given the strong public opposition.

Wellington rider Mark Solly presented a survey from 264 riders as part of his submission, in which a third said they would struggle to afford basic necessities if they had to pay $2.50 an hour for parking.

“I was really taken aback by that … but I can see how. If you look at the rate they’re proposing and if someone's not making a living wage, it probably is the last nail in the coffin for them.”

Solly said he had no problem with a user pays system, but said it should be proportionate. “If they came back and said motorcyclists need to pay the operating costs of these car parks, I’d shrug my shoulders and go yep … it’s like $1 a day.”

Councillors would not be drawn on how they would vote on the motorcycle parking charges.