Albany is growing, with more land being developed all the time. This means that activity in Albany will increase, as will the demand for parking. Albany must balance growth, sustainable travel, and access to services for everyone. That’s why we’re reviewing how parking is managed, now and for the next 10 years.

We regularly make small changes to parking in Albany but now’s the opportunity to take a big picture look to make sure it all works well together.

As part of developing local parking management plans, the boundaries from the original Room to Move Strategy are adapted to reflect a more detailed understanding of where there are existing constraints. Albany Village was excluded from the parking plan because AT identified limited transport alternatives for accessing the area, and the current land use does not meet the criteria for proactive parking management.

We have noticed that residential streets close to the park and ride have a number of commuters parking all day. To discourage all day parking and to make sure there is space for visitors to the area to easily find a park, we are implementing time restrictions to parking to encourage the turnover.

We regularly review and update services to reflect changing land use patterns and community needs. Feeder buses play a vital role in addressing first- and last-leg transport challenges, making it easier for more people to reach Albany Station by public transport. This, in turn, helps ensure that those who genuinely need to drive to the station can do so.

New services, such as the recently introduced 888 routes, are part of this effort. Additionally, NZTA is exploring improvements to the Northern Busway to enhance access to and from Albany Station.

Park and Ride facilities, like Albany, help connect people from outer areas to the Rapid Transit Network, especially where other transport options are limited. These carparks often fill up early and we know they are sometimes used by people not taking public transport.

To ensure that park and ride spaces are available for people later in the day, and provide users certainty, AT has introduced pre-paid bookable spaces. This helps manage demand, ensures fair use, and supports the upkeep of the facilities. It also encourages people to consider other ways of getting to the station, helping reduce congestion and emissions. The bookable spaces have proven very popular with users, and most days of the week they are full.

Defining who qualifies as a ‘local resident’ is complex and risks excluding individuals who live further from Park and Ride facilities but rely on them due to limited transport options. AT’s priority is to ensure that Park and Ride spaces remain accessible to those who genuinely need them, while encouraging people living close to stations to consider alternative travel options.

To address capacity issues and improve access, AT will gradually introduce paid parking at Park and Ride locations. This responds to feedback from users who report facilities being full by 7am, leaving them without parking options. Bookable spaces offer a reliable solution at modest rates, often lower than nearby private providers.

Charging for Park and Ride facilities is intended to encourage people to think more carefully about their travel choices and help maintain available capacity within the system. However, we acknowledge that this change may have flow-on effects, particularly in areas surrounding Park and Rides.

Many streets near these facilities already experience high occupancy, with residents reporting that commuter parking makes it difficult to accommodate visitors. In response, Auckland Transport may consider introducing time-restricted parking on these streets to ensure short-stay visitors still have access to parking.

Our goal is to manage demand without simply shifting the problem elsewhere. Any changes will be carefully considered to avoid pushing overflow parking further into surrounding neighbourhoods. We aim to strike a balance between encouraging smarter travel behaviour and maintaining fair access to parking for local residents and visitors.

Auckland Council is in charge of implementing new off-street parking options, including park-and-ride facilities and parking buildings.

The construction and maintenance of parking buildings is a significant investment, typically costing millions of dollars that must be recovered through rates.

The objective of this project is to optimise the management of existing parking resources. The introduction of new off-street parking facilities is not within the scope of this programme. Instead, the focus will remain on maximising the utilisation of current assets to minimise costs for ratepayers.

The goal of these projects across Auckland is to better manage the parking we already have. Introducing new off-street parking facilities will not be part of this program. However, we

will look at how we manage existing space, and, in some cases, this may result in the creation of additional parking on street and in off street facilties where/if possible.

Introducing these changes will take time and different tools will be implemented at different times depending on whether they are a short-term, easy to implement intervention or one that needs more investigation with a long-term focus. Once we have agreement on our proposals with the Local Boards, you still start to see these changes rolled out over the next ten years.

Our streets are under increasing pressure to cater for a wide variety of needs within a finite road space. The roads in Albany are already at their maximum width and there simply isn’t room to add more lanes without removing shops, homes or footpaths. Widening the road is also very expensive and disruptive and may not always solve congestion. Our focus is on managing the space we already have more effectively – through better parking management, public transport, walking and cycling options. This approach makes it easier for more people to move around safely without the need for major roadworks.

We are not making any changes to parking outside of any local businesses in Albany at this stage.