In 2023, the City of Melbourne introduced a Kerbside Parking Strategy that committed to regular reviews of the kerbside parking system based on proactive engagement in local areas and sharing the data that underpins decision-making.

In the CBD, the cycle of regular reviews began alongside the development of the Parking and Kerbside Management Plan.

As the plan was developed key insights were used to inform the first changes for parking in Melbourne CBD.

The formal community engagement period ran from 22 March to 19 April 2023 (four weeks). Pre-draft engagement occurred in October 2022 to inform the draft Parking and Kerbside Management Plan.

In total, 439 individuals or organisations provided direct input into and feedback, in addition to the 971 people who were surveyed in relation to their experience of parking in the city to support the development of the draft plan.

We will be back in CBD in the second half of 2024 to see how initial changes have worked and hear from community again.

People who responded to the survey were more likely to be men (52 per cent), under 50 years of age (61.5 per cent) and a City of Melbourne resident (52.88 per cent).

Most respondents travelled frequently within or to the City of Melbourne with 45 per cent noting they travel in the municipality every day. Respondents predominantly travelled by public transport or private vehicle as their usual mode of travel to the city. With 30 percent of respondents using private vehicle as their main mode of travel, this indicates a strong level of feedback from people who rely on vehicle access to the City of Melbourne.

Taxi rank changes and stakeholders were approached for taxi specific changes in the CBD. Find out more about the taxi zone changes trial.

People were asked to nominate the most important strategic challenges to be addressed in the Parking and Kerbside Management Plan.

The top responses were:

• 'There are competing needs for access to limited city space' (57.8 per cent of respondents selected this challenge)
• 'Drivers can have difficulty finding available on-street car parking space' (47.5 per cent)
• 'Parking rules and complex parking signage can be confusing' (42 per cent)
• 'There is a large supply of off-street parking in the city but it is underutilised' (37 per cent)

We completed the roll out of improved parking conditions in the CBD in March 2024.

Consistent two-hour (2P) time limit for all general parking spaces in the CBD, from 7am to 10pm every day. This changes a range of time limits in the CBD to two hours, simplifying parking conditions and the signs that communicate them. A two-hour time limit keeps more spaces turning over for people who need to park at the kerbside.

Need to run a quick errand? When you use the EasyPark app you’ll pay nothing for a short stop (up to 15 minutes in any ‘green-signed’ parking space, like ‘2P Meter’). If you’re in and out within 15 minutes, we waive the parking fee. No fees are waived if you park longer than 15 minutes. This initiative helps to boost parking turnover.

Off-peak parking rate of $4 per hour in the CBD after 7pm on weekdays, and all weekend. The peak rate will remain at $7 per hour and apply to metered spaces until 7pm on weekdays. Demand has increased during these periods and this helps to maintain parking turnover and availability for people needing to travel by car.

Loading zones reviewed and repositioned to make sure we have the right spaces in the right locations. All loading zones will be a consistent 30 minutes to give drivers enough time to complete deliveries.

Accessible parking spaces reviewed and repositioned to improve location and accessibility. Disability parking permit holders can also park for double the time limit shown on any general ‘green sign’ parking space (up to four hours in a ‘2P Meter’ space).

Designated pick up / drop off spaces in every street (typically the first space after every intersection). You can use these ‘No Parking’ spaces to stop for up to two minutes if you stay within three metres of your vehicle. These spaces are easy to find and access, and perfect for if you’re picking-up or dropping-off passengers.

Hundreds of spaces ‘unlocked’ across the CBD, to make sure more public parking is available at the right time of day. We’ve also set parking conditions so that most loading zones become regular two-hour parking spaces after 4pm. This creates more parking options, more of the time.

Find out more about parking in the CBD.

We won’t set and forget the new conditions once works are complete; we'll give the community time to adjust and then review the functionality and performance of those changes.

You can have your say any time on parking in your neighbourhood by completing the survey. The next review of your neighbourhood will use this data to inform future changes.

We’ll give the community time to adjust, then review the changes to make sure the new parking conditions are working well.