20 Viaduct Harbour Avenue Auckland 1010
Private Bag 92250, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
Ph 09 355 3553
Fax 09 355 3550
18 January 2024
Jennifer Ward
Kia ora Jennifer,
The information you requested - CAS-826341-T0N5R9
Thank you for the request for information received dated 30 November 2023 regarding parking enforcement.
As per the previous correspondence sent to you, Auckland has seen an exponential rate of growth over the
past 10 years with a major influx of people living and working in our city. As expected with an ever-growing
region it places a lot of pressure on our available resources required to service this mega-city. This growth has
led to a substantial increase in the demand for housing, parking availability and road infrastructure which in
turn led to an increase in the number of Request for Service (RFS) cal s Auckland Transport (AT) receives
monthly (currently we deal with circa 3800 RFS per calendar month). Furthermore, not al RFS cal s require
only once-off services; meaning an Officer might be required to attend to the same site/RFS up to 5 times for
enforcement purposes.
Fol owing several organisational restructures as requested by the new mayor, recruitment of AT staff was
stopped and only resumed towards the end of 2023. The AT Board has approved an addition of 20 Full Time
Employees (FTE’s) parking officers, and we are in the process of hiring. Currently we are back at pre-covid
staffing levels with a Compliance team of 153 parking officers. Keep in mind though that the average
timeframe for the hiring, training, and full engagement into the compliance role, takes on average of 3-4
months for a warranted parking officer. So, to answer your question, yes, we wil be hiring additional officers,
but this may not deal with the current load on the city’s compliance requirements to meet the expectations of
its demanding residents. If an RFS is raised it is very unlikely that an officer wil be able to attend to it within
the hour, BUT an officer wil attend to it when one becomes available, and priority is placed on safety-based
requests.
Regarding whether the revenue generated through the issuance of parking compliance infringements can fund
the hiring of more officers, the revenue col ected by AT is used to help fund the services we provide to
Auckland ratepayers (public transport services, parking facilities, road safety campaigns, walking and cycling
initiatives and the ongoing maintenance of the region’s roads and other transport facilities). With AT utilising
the enforcement revenue col ected in this way, council is also able to al ocate funding from AT to fund other
council services (libraries, parks, community centres, the art gal ery, the zoo and other recreational facilities)
since we form part of a bigger ecosystem and the revenue we generate is not solely utilised by AT.
How is permitting il egal parking, due to grossly inadequate enforcement staffing levels, succeeding in
deterring such behaviour? How does this lack of enforcement help build a world class city when it’s
effectively a free-for-all carpark? How does this level of staffing enable active transport users to freely
access the footpaths and shared spaces?
AT is by no means permitting any form of il egal parking and trust that you understand that we are doing the
best we can to keep this ever-growing city moving.
As per the above, if an RFS is raised an officer wil attend to it when one becomes available, and priority is
placed on safety-based.
aucklandtransport.govt.nz
Why are individuals unable to have il egal y parked and obstructive vehicles towed?
There is a cost attached to the call-out of a towing vehicle and that cost needs to be carried by someone. If
the driver of the il egal y parked vehicle moves the vehicle before the tow truck arrives, who wil be
responsible for the costs? The party responsible for the costs could be deemed to then be the cal er, and AT
cannot and wil not stand in for these actions and costs.
Should you believe that we have not dealt with your request appropriately, you are able to make a complaint
to the Office of the Ombudsman in accordance with section 27(3) of the LGOIMA and seek an investigation and
review regarding this matter.
Yours sincerely
John Strawbridge
Group Manager, Parking Services & Compliance
