Streets Alive Yarra’s values are freedom, equality, social justice, responsibility, and a world of beauty.
Here we look at how the value of equality should be applied to on-street parking.
Equality of access
In Australia, every person has equal rights to access most public amenities. Or rather, they should have, but don’t, and it’s our responsibility to fix that.
Footpaths, bike lanes, driving lanes, and parking bays are all public amenities. Footpaths and bike lanes can be used by anyone, while vehicle driving lanes can be used by anyone who has a driver’s license and a registered vehicle.
However, public on-street parking bays aren’t equally open to everyone. Some people can ignore time limits and park all day, while other people can’t. The intrinsic human value of equality tells us that every person should have an equal right to occupy the public land that is designated for on-street parking. But, some people have residential permits, and others don’t.
In addition, even people who live in properties that are eligible for residential permits aren’t treated equally. One person living in an eligible property can purchase three permits and park three cars on the street, while four people living in a similar eligible property can’t get one permit each. This is discrimination, to the detriment of younger people living in share-houses.
Every resident of every eligible property should have an equal right to occupy the public land that is designated for on-street parking. Equality tells us that residential permits should be offered on a per-person basis, not on a per-household basis.
Even worse, only some residents (more accurately, only some properties) are eligible for permits at all, irrespective of whether you seek a visitor (short-term) permit or a residential (annual) permit. This is discrimination.
Every resident of every home should have an equal right to offer a guest the short-term use of a visitor parking permit, or to purchase an annual residential parking permit.
Supply and demand
Clearly, the problem is that the demand for on-street parking spaces is much higher than supply. In the past, this mismatch has held councils back from delivering equality.
We can’t increase supply, i.e. build more on-street parking spaces, so we need to change how we manage demand. The solution is to increase pricing until demand is in balance with supply, while continuing to offer discounts to concession card holders, in accordance with Yarra’s Pricing Policy. Pricing may vary across the municipality; based on the supply and demand in each area.
Summary
If we use pricing as a tool to manage demand, then we can remove discrimination from parking policy, and re-establish equality of access to public land.
Thankfully, Council has already identified that pricing is a tool to manage demand, we now just need to implement it.
If you don’t agree with using pricing to manage demand, that’s OK; you just need to admit that you don’t believe in equality.
Recommendation 1 – every resident is eligible
Every resident should be able to offer a guest the short-term use of a visitor parking permit.
Every resident should be eligible for one residential parking permit, with neutral eligibility criteria, e.g. the address shown on their driver’s license must be in the City of Yarra, and must match the garaging address shown on their vehicle’s certificate of registration.
Recommendation 2 – change parking bays to ‘Ticket Zone’
Every person, residents and non-residents alike, should have equal access to parking bays in Yarra via the purchase of a parking ticket (excluding loading, disabled, and car-sharing bays). This means stopping the practice of defining one side of a street as ‘Permit Zone’, and the other half as time-limited.
Instead, both sides should be ‘Ticket Zone’. This opens up all the parking bays to every person on an equal basis. Note that vehicles with a residential parking permit would be exempt from the requirement to purchase a ticket.
Recommendation 3 – use pricing to manage demand
To prevent streets from being filled up by non-resident commuters who purchase visitor permits on the black market, visitor permits should be daily (not annual), linked to the number plate of the visiting vehicle, and their price should gradually escalate, e.g. the first 10 daily visitor permits are free, the next 10 are $2 each, the next 10 are $4 each, etc, escalating up to a ceiling price, with the price resetting back to free on 1st January.
To prevent streets from being filled up by non-resident commuters who purchase a daily parking ticket, each street should be defined as a separate zone, with a limit on the number of tickets sold each day in that zone, e.g. ⅓ of the bays for a residential street, ranging up to ⅔ for a commercial street, which keeps some space free for short-term parking. The price should be different for each zone, and increased until the daily tickets only just sell out.
To prevent streets from being filled up by residential permit holders, the same zones should be used, with a limit on the number of permits sold each year in that zone, e.g. ⅔ of the bays for a residential street, which keeps some space free for visitors. Again, the price should be different for each zone, and increased until the annual permits only just sell out.
Most likely, the price for an annual residential permit will be significantly lower than the price for a daily ticket, because the demand for daytime parking is higher than the demand for overnight parking. For example, if a daily ticket costs $10, equivalent to $3,650 per year, a residential permit will probably be 90% lower, i.e. $365 per year. If a resident needs more than one residential permit, then additional permits are offered at the non-discounted rate for that zone, e.g. $3,650 per year.
Looking forward
In 2026 we have about 100,000 people living in Yarra, with about 45,000 on-street car parks, i.e. a ratio of 2 to 1. In 2050 we might have 200,000 people, and perhaps only 40,000 car parks, i.e. a ratio of 5 to 1. With a limit on the number of permits available in each zone, the permit price will naturally increase, reflecting supply and demand. This a neutral process, without Council attempting to determine if one person is more deserving (or more equal) than another.
Will some people lose permits?
If a person lives in a property that was eligible for three permits, they will still be able to purchase three permits. The difference is that only the first permit (per person) will be offered at a residential (discounted) rate. The second and third permit will cost the market rate.
On the other hand, if four people live in a property that was eligible for three permits, they will now be eligible for one permit each, all offered at the same residential (discounted) rate.
Staging reforms
Reforms should be introduced in stages. First, reform how non-resident commuters access on-street parking:
- change most parking bays to ‘Ticket Zone’
- limit the number of daily tickets that are sold in each zone
- adjust the price the daily tickets in each zone so they only just sell out each day
That reform would prevent commuters from overloading residential streets, and would align with existing Council policy that visitors should pay for parking. Note that existing residential permits would remain, with their existing eligibility criteria, quantity, and pricing.
Second, reform visitor permits:
- change to daily permits with escalating pricing
- tickets can either be digital (purchased one at a time using an app), or paper (purchased from Council in books of 10, you write the date and the vehicle number plate on the paper, and place in the vehicle)
That reform would introduce equality between residents, regarding access to visitor parking.
Finally, reform residential permits:
- change eligibility criteria to a one-per-person basis
- limit the number of residential permits that are sold for each zone
- adjust the pricing until permits only just sell out in each zone
That reform would introduce equality between residents, regarding access to residential parking.
Impact on the cost of living
Increasing the price of residential permits will increase the cost of living for people who need to park on-street.
However, it will reduce the cost of living for people who don’t need to park on-street, which is a growing percentage of Yarra’s population, if revenue is used to freeze rates or lower the cost of other council services. Either way, compared with existing costs to own and operate a car (source RACV) the additional cost of a council residential permit is small in comparison. For example, if a permit costs $365 (a big increase from today’s $56) then the total cost to own and operate a car only increases from $10,000 to $10,365.
Published 28 April 2026