Streets Alive Yarra had an advocacy win last week, with the Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas implementing our proposal to expand the congestion levy.
As context, the state government’s congestion levy applies to private off-street car parking and already covers most of the northern half of Yarra. It acts to increase the cost of parking, and thus reduces congestion by reducing the incentive to drive into (and park in) the inner-city or the CBD. On 18 April 2021 we wrote to Tim Pallas, Treasurer of Victoria,Ā asking him to:
- expand the congestion levy area to include the southern half of the City of Yarra
- return the revenue to the local councilsĀ from whence it came, for investment in measures to mitigate congestion, such as infrastructure for walking and cycling
On 13 December 2024, in the 2024-25 Budget Update, Treasurer Tim Pallas announced:
- the area of the congestion levy will be expanded to include “additional inner suburbs along Hoddle Street and Punt Road”
- the congestion levy category 2 rates (which apply in Yarra) will increase to approximately $2,150 per year
This is a win for Streets Alive Yarra’s advocacy, in that the area of the congestion levy has been expanded as we recommended. Unfortunately, the treasurer chose not to return the revenue to local councils.
However, Yarra can impose their own “congestion levy”, by charging commuters $10 for all-day on-street parking. Note that this would only apply to council-controlled on-street parking, not the private off-street parking which is covered by the state government’s levy.
If a commuter drives into Yarra on approximately 250 days per year, and pays $10 per day, the revenue would be $2,500 per year, similar to the $2,150 annual levy imposed by the state government. If Council collected this revenue from only 1/3 of Yarra’s on-street car parking bays, it would raise tens of millions of dollars each year.
Published 15 December 2024