Hamilton City Council
Te kaunihera o Kirikiriroa
Hamilton is a growing city, and parking is an important part of its transport system.
Internationally, the best parking occupancy rate is 85% (15% availability). Essentially, every one in seven parks should be available. In some areas, only one in every 10 parks was available. In many areas, no parks at all.
The central city is introducing a demand-responsive model already used across other New Zealand cities and the world. We’re splitting pricing over two zones based off our data – the green zone locations fill up quicker, and the yellow zone locations fill up after these. Read on-street parking for more on zones.
Demand responsive parking will help by focusing on the sweet spot of 85% occupancy to:
To target the sweet spot, zones and prices could change as follows:
Data will be monitored, and zones and prices may be reviewed and adjusted every three months (it cannot be adjusted within a three-month period).
At each review, price adjustments can be no less than $0.50 and no more than $3.00. A review may not result in an adjustment. The second hour for short-term parking cannot be lower than $1 or higher than $6.
Hamilton City Council’s parking policy sets out the principles which guide all Council parking decisions including charging and the introduction of demand-responsive parking:
The central city is a priority area for strategic infrastructure investment to enable more housing and development. Not only does it sit at the heart of New Zealand’s fourth largest city and Waikato region, it’s positioned on the banks of the Waikato River with entertainment, food and retail. It’s also a growing business hub with many national organisations choosing to do business here. All these aspects make the central city a premium location.
Parking is an important part of the central city’s transport system. But there is limited space. We must think about its best use to create a central city where people love to be.
However, around 80% of people arrive in the central city by car. Businesses in the central city and our data on on-street parking spaces and off-street parking buildings tell us they are full all day or at peak times.
If we continue this way, our central city is going to run out of space. So, we need to make better use of the parking spaces we have and plan for where we want to be.
Paid parking is a way to help regulate demand, improve availability, and encourage a steady flow of visitors.
At the 4 July 2024-34 Long-Term Plan meeting, Council approved the transition from two-hours free parking in the central city to one-hour free from 1 October 2024 with demand-responsive parking introduced for the second hour of short-stay parking.
All-day parking was also approved for demand-responsive pricing from 1 October; however, it will be included at a later point.
Parking can be split into short-term use (under four hours) and long-term use (over four hours). All-day-paid parking is typically used by workers parking in a parking space all day. In comparison, short-stay parking is typically used by people who are visiting the city for shopping, business trips or entertainment. To help our city thrive, we need to make it easier for people to visit.
There are over 12,000 parking spaces in the central city, on-street and off-street, of which 19% is managed by Council. The remainder is managed privately or through associated retail.
Last updated 27 September 2024