Thursday 16 February 2023

New parking plan begins 27 February: Questions answered, ways to pay and more

Kia ora koutou

On Monday 27 February 2023 (start of Semester 1), our new parking plan will take effect. Today I can share how the paid parking at Mt Albert campus will work, plus answer some of the questions you’ve sent us over the past few months.

All information around how the paid parking will be managed can be found on our website plus a Q&A on the parking page on Te Aka.

A reminder of the new car parking plan

Mt Albert:

The southern carpark (approx 350 parks) will remain as free parking until the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development asks us to hand it back to them. We don’t have a date for this yet and will have around two weeks’ notice of the hand over.
Payment will be required on all other parking spaces Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm for all staff and students, capped at a maximum of $3 per day or $1 per hour.
Payment will not be required during Unitec breaks or in the weekends.

Waitākere:

The maximum daily rate at the multi-storey parking building (B530) will increase from $3 per day to $4 per day for staff and learners.
Kaimahi and ākonga will need to show your Unitec ID to the carpark attendant when paying to get this Unitec rate.

We heard your comments around equity of payment between the two campuses. While we would prefer to have the same rate, Unitec-Te Pūkenga already subsidises the cost of the Waitākere parks which are owned by Auckland Transport and with a recent increase to our contracted rate, we would make too much of a loss keeping it at $3/day.

At Mt Albert, paid parking is a new initiative to help lower demand. Based on your feedback, we are starting with the $3 rate (down from $4 in the proposal) and will keep a careful eye on demand and revenue across both campuses.

While the new charges at Mt Albert are necessary, we want to help where we can. Following the consultation last year, we responded by making parking free after 4pm, on the weekend and during Semester breaks. To help with other transport options, we've mapped our onsite bike shelters and the 20 shower facilities on campus (map here) and we're committing to maintaining and - where needed - upgrading the shower facilities.

Visitor and Mobility parking spaces

At Mt Albert campus, allocated visitor car parks outside B111 are free for our visitors but must be booked in advance. The process for booking these carparks remains the same: Use your Outlook calendar to book a carpark using the ‘Rooms’ option. Scroll down to choose a park that is available at the time you need.

Paid mobility parking spaces are available around campus, you can find these on the campus parking map.

How will we pay for parking at Mt Albert?

You can pay for your parking in the following ways:

At one of the pay-by-plate machines in the car park and around campus. Pay with cash or a credit/debit card: User guide here
Online using the parkeasy pay-by-plate website. Pay with a credit/debit card, or Google Pay: User guide here.
Use the ParKiwi app, downloadable for Apple (iOS) or for Android. Pay with a credit/debit card: User guide here

You'll find locations of payment machines and parking spaces on our campus parking map.

Some of you asked about concession passes. Once we understand the level of demand, this may be a future option, but we also don't want to disadvantage those who can't pay in advance.

How will the paid parking be enforced?

Enforcement is managed by parking company, Stellar. Parking ambassadors will be patrolling the carparks during the day to check everyone has parked in the correct areas and has paid. Signage will be installed to let everyone know where to park.

Fines will be issued for breaching conditions. Information on the fines and the process to pay are on our website.

Planning for the future

The aim of our new parking plan is predominantly to manage demand on our car parks (at Mt Albert).

With our new consolidated campus, parking spaces have reduced, putting more pressure on the space we do have. We encourage those who can, to explore alternative ways to get to campus, such as public transport, carpooling, biking and walking.

We will regularly review the demand for and revenue from parking. We'll allocate any surplus funds to initiatives that support sustainable transport options, like upgrading showers and providing good bike shelter areas.

At this stage, there are no concrete plans for new carparks as our Infrastructure and Commercial teams are working on the consolidation of our Mt Albert campus. However, we will continue to look to the future as we plan for long-term maintenance, building upgrades, and potential carpark options.

We have answered more of your questions on our Te Aka car parking page.

If you have questions about parking logistics please email carparking@unitec.ac.nz.

Thanks to everyone who has made it to the end of this long message - it contains a lot of information. I hope I've addressed your queries, and you'll find the details you need on our website and Te Aka.

Ngā mihi

Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga
Executive Director – Unitec and MIT