The semi-comic traits of the Ballarat driver are well known; drive around the block three times to get the car park right outside the destination. Increasingly there is a more sophisticated street wise approach that will grab the first space available even if it means walking several blocks because time is more vital and free spaces are not the easy game they once were. Expect to get one or lucky to get one; fundamentally it is a difference in expectations.

Such a disparity of expectation is also reflected in the cost of parking.  The market will charge what the market can bear and that is directly related to the scarcity of the commodity. If multi-level car parks are to be the solution, the same drivers must accept the return on investment means an inflated cost is part of that future. 

The much talked about issue of the size of car parks and the skill in parking is another example of “country town grows into regional city” dilemma.  The change is perhaps inevitable, it is how a community addresses it that is the mark of a city; adapt to a new way of thinking or cling stubbornly to the past. The rise and rise of small cars in Australian capital cities is an interesting example. It follows a precedent set decades ago in Europe where the privilege of a big car became at first an inconvenience and then an impossibility. Car parking spaces were at such a premium their alloted size simply followed suit

Things are not what they once were; more cars need to be fitted into an equal if not smaller space and there’s no sign of Ballarat’s population diminishing. The rate of car ownership in Ballarat is high and as with the nascent congestion the CBD is feeling, it is not likely to drop off unless alternative forms of transport are found.  If by 2040 (only 25 years away) the population has increased to 160,000, the number of cars on current ratios will have almost doubled. It could mean an extra 30,000 cars on the roads. If only a third decide to make a shopping trip each day that is 10,000 extra car spaces to be found at some time.  Surely there are better alternatives to this crush worth thinking about now.