Perth Voice Interactive

Paid parking at train stations faces a backlash, with locals and Bayswater councillors joining Labor’s opposition to the plan.

Free parking at stations will be abolished from next July.

WA transport shadow Ken Travers says $2 a day doesn’t sound like much to pay but over a year the $460 makes a huge difference to low-income families already battling rising costs and charges.

“It’s bad news for public transport commuters who will suffer huge blows to household budgets,” he says.

“Utility bills and the cost of living are shooting up—this is just another blow to families struggling to make ends meet.”

Maylands Labor MP Lisa Baker says the charge comes on top of a flagged 20 per cent increase in fares over the next four years. She says train commuters will start clogging local streets to avoid the fees.

“They will likely end up parking in residential streets near Meltham, Bayswater and Maylands train stations.”

“It’s only going to get worse—if people have a choice between paying and not paying, they will ditch their car in the street,” resident Nick Suess says.

Councillor Marlene Robinson says the council will end up wearing the cost of regulating parking in surrounding streets.

“We are already inundated with calls from residents about illegal parking,” she says.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK