The Advertiser reported this week that the chief
executive of Adelaide City Council’s Transport Department has called for a
reduction in the number of car spaces in the CBD, and an increase in parking
pricing.
Rod Hook, Transport Department chief executive, was
reported by The Advertiser as saying that Adelaide commuters had become too
used to driving their cars into the city because of the cheap and large number
of public parking spaces available.
He says that the ease of driving is causing
congestion, with more than twice as many car parks in the city than are
required, as people choose to drive rather than options including public
transport.
The Adelaide CBD has 41,000 public parking spaces, and
the cheapest parking of any Australian capital, with the exception of
Hobart..By comparison, Sydney has 30,000, Melbourne 35,000, Perth about 10,000
and Brisbane has about 20,000 spaces.
Meanwhile, the SA Greens MP Mark Parnell claimed he
first floated the idea of a levy on car parking in the ’90s, with the money being
used to fund free public transport around the city.