City of Perth increases cost of parking, cancels free nighttime perk

The City of Perth has abolished its free nighttime parking incentive and upped the cost of parking in the city during the day, amid rising operational costs and the closure of two major car parks.

Councillors voted to shed the free nighttime parking perk and increase its hourly and daily parking fees during a meeting on Tuesday night, with the new charges to come into effect on March 31, 2025.

City of Perth car parking nighttime parking will no longer be free. Picture: WAtodayCredit: WAtoday

The city’s officers had recommended the council introduce a parking fee increase, replace the free nighttime parking with a $5 flat fee and implement charging fees for electrical vehicles to offset rising costs.

Under the new plan, the hourly rate at the city’s boom gated car parks will rise by 50 cents, while day rates will increase by $1.

According to officers, the city’s operating costs have soared by $2 million in the past financial year, while at the same time council invested $2 million in technology and infrastructure.

That figure included contributions to the CBD parking levy, an annual tax applied to every car bay by the state government which is used to bankroll transport initiatives, including the CAT bus network.

But one of the key budgetary considerations was the anticipated $2.85 million deficit created by the loss of 900 car parking bays between the soon-to-be developed Perth Concert Hall and the Queens Park car park, which the state government has repossessed for the development of East Perth Primary School.

Councillor Catherine Lezer attempted to preserve the nighttime parking incentive — as Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas had successfully done 11 months earlier.

Lezer argued the new fee would present another financial hurdle and disincentive to those struggling with the rising cost of living and be detrimental to the nighttime economy.

But multiple councillors claimed the cost of extending the free incentive would instead have to be borne by the city’s residents and commercial ratepayers.

The decision brings to an end the city’s pandemic-era free parking at off-street, boom-gated car parks between 6pm and 5.59am.

The initiative to draw people back to the central business district after the pandemic was only slated to run for a matter of months when it was introduced in February 2022, but the council advocated for it to continue.

It comes less than one year after the city imposed an 11.5 per cent increase to its parking fees to bring the cost in line with the user fee charged by the EasyPark app, which is operated by Swedish mobile payment outfit EasyPark Group.

The council had also mulled revoking the free parking initiative during the March 2024 meeting, but ultimately resolved to extend it for another year.

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