Following many blogs relating to the issue of parking levies in some cities of Australia, we came across a post on the Auckland Transport Blog, discussing the Auckland CBD Rail Tunnel, and what means might be implemented to fund this massive infrastructure project. The author proposes that Auckland should consider a flat rate parking tax or levy on all parking spaces in the CBD, looking to Sydney as an example.
His post analyses the facts and theories of the NSW Parking Levy policy, examining an analysis of various different types of parking levies from the Victorian Transport Policy Institute, and naturally referencing Donald Shoup’s theories of reducing the supply and increasing pricing to revitalise urban planning and public transportation as an alternative to parking.
The author concludes that the key to implementing such reforms to parking and taxation is to offset the increased cost with a significant improvement to public transportation. PCI would agree, except for the fact that we have not seen many examples of these lofty ideals. We know for a fact that in Sydney, for example, there has been a “slight” delay between the implementation of the parking levy and the intended improvements to our public transport.