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Our low cost of resident parking is a mispricing of our roads. I'm all for people having cars if they want them - especially families - but it has to be balanced with the changing nature of transport. For the folks who want to keep using it, cool, but you should pay for it. /2
At the same time, we're seeing an explosion of e-bike and e-scooter use in Wellington - this is the sort of transport we should be encouraging. It's cheap, point to point, doesn't contribute to congestion and massively reduces emissions. /3
We have to build more safe cycleways and infrastructure for people to safely get around on bikes and scooters. Much of the most logical road space for those to go is currently taken up by parking. If this space is more appropriately priced, it'd be easier to switch. /4
At the same time, the price of housing is going up massively- prices for properties are up by 12% last year, rents by 9.4%. We're the most expensive city in NZ to rent in. Many people can't afford to keep a car at the same time. They need alternative transport options. /5
Of course people are going to be pissed. They'll pay more for something that previously was free. Some people will give up their cars. I'm aware of that. But till now you've benefitted from a subsidy that we all pay for in congestion and car-centric transport. That's changing. /6
And before people say 'what about families?' - ask parents if their kids are talking to them about climate change, and what they're doing about it as a family. Moving people out of cars and into other modes is one of the biggest things a household can do to reduce emissions. /7
We have also seen a collapse in the numbers of kids cycling to school - understandably, lots of families don't think it's safe for their kids to be on the road. Safer infrastructure leads to increases in kids getting to school on scooters and bikes, reducing the need for cars. /8
