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“While this free parking after 6pm cannot last forever, I don’t believe at this point that we should give it away because it is such a winner for our city. Another year feels right.”
Under the approved motion, the city will conduct a comprehensive review of the parking perk and the findings are likely to determine whether the initiative is extended beyond April 2025.
Originally, the nightly initiative introduced in February 2022 was only due to last a matter of months, but councillors agreed it should be extended.
It is understood the decision comes on the eve of the launch of the City of Perth’s new campaign.
The daytime rate hike will bring the cost in line with the user fee charged by the EasyPark app, which is operated by Swedish mobile payment outfit EasyPark Group.
Officers argued the increase would encourage visitors to adopt the technology and decrease costs associated with the city’s parking infrastructure, which it recently upgraded to allow cashless and ticketless transactions.
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The hike will help the city pocket $700,000 in extra revenue this financial year and $4.3 million during the next, presuming half of all visitors use the app.
Officers had pointed out other perks – including the three hours free parking available at selected city-owned facilities on weekends and public holidays – had cost it $4.2 million, and it was juggling an operations cost hike of $4.1 million.
The city last increased its CPP parking fees in late 2022, hiking hourly rates by 50 cents and day rates by $1 — the first change since 2018.
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