More than 1,500 prime parking spaces sat unfilled as a crowd of 35,000 descended on Hobart for the annual Christmas Pageant.
The event drew thousands of families to the city on November 23 and prompted a flurry of questions on social media about where everyone had parked.
According to City of Hobart data supplied to Pulse, the city’s three multi-storey car parks were collectively just 24.58% full during the event, with 1,560 spaces available at 10am.
This was due to two of the largest car parks, Argyle and Centrepoint, shutting at 9am as a result of road closures put in place for the parade.
At 10am, the Argyle Street car park had 889 of its 1,133 spots available and Centrepoint had 669 of 732.
Hobart Central, which remained open all day, had just two spaces out of 462 remaining.
On-street parking data was not collected as parking machines were deactivated for free parking, however many of the available on-street bays were observed to be full.
Observations also suggested that Sultan Parking buildings on Bathurst Street and Market Place were at capacity of about 950, though official data could not be obtained.
Transport Minister Eric Abetz said the numbers support his view that concerns about possible parking problems during events at the proposed 23,000-seat Macquarie Point stadium may be exaggerated.
“This has been exactly my point for some time,” Abetz said.
“While there is existing capacity to support 23,000 patrons on a match-day visit to the Macquarie Point Stadium, we are continuing to build upon this capacity to ensure it is seamless come game day.”
According to a transport study commissioned for the stadium project, attendees driving to events at the stadium will be expected to park in one of the “ample” spots across the CBD and broader Hobart area.
However, it found “demand for parking is expected to greatly exceed supply in the immediate vicinity of the stadium”.
“While sufficient parking is available in the broader CBD area, the financial and time costs associated with formal parking provision will induce drivers to park informally, or in locations that may interfere with public transport, cycling and pedestrian movements,” the study states.
A 536-space, three-storey underground car park will be built beneath the Macquarie Point stadium for a figure outside of the stadium’s $715+ million price tag.
