Melbourne's city centre could see a major revamp to its car parking in a bid to ease traffic congestion.
The City of Melbourne plans to introduce measures to make parking in the CBD simpler and fairer after a recent survey found more than 80 per cent of motorists struggled to find an on-street parking space during their last visit.
Simplified signage, changes to loading zones and more consistent layouts and durations for parking spaces are among the proposed changes in the draft Park and Kerbside Management Plan.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the council did not intend to increase the current maximum $7 hourly parking rate in the CBD.
"There are no plans to increase the rate at all but there are some propositions to reduce the rate at lower peak times to encourage people to come into the city at those times when there are more car parks available," she said.
"If lowering the price would help with that, then that's something we are certainly willing to consider."
Ms Capp said she hoped proposed changes would alleviate "parking anxiety" and congestion because motorists cruising to find a park made up about 30 per cent of traffic in the CBD.
Changes to signs, loading zones aimed to match city's 'changing rhythm'
Changes to loading zones have also been flagged, along with releasing some on-street parking for other needs including wider footpaths, tram spots and additional open space.
The council hopes clearer parking signs will reduce fines by about 10 per cent.
"Our parking signs are so confusing. It's identified as a discouragement or deterrent to people driving in," Ms Capp said.
"Sometimes that confusion comes with interactions between when are the loading-zone times and when you can park there as a normal driver."
While more than 760,000 trips are made into and within the city by motor vehicles each day, the council manages just 10,000 paid on-street parking spaces across its municipality.
Of those, only 1,800 are located in the CBD, representing less than 5 per cent of the total parking capacity.
Off-street parking makes up the vast majority of parking capacity and most of the available spaces at any one time, accounting for 90 per cent of the total supply with 193,600 spaces in the city.
Ms Capp said the proposed changes were designed to "balance all of those needs in a very limited space".
The council said the city's "changing rhythm" had seen people's parking habits change, with weekends now busier than weekdays in the CBD, creating a higher demand for parking on Saturday and Sunday.
It follows the council pausing its plans to roll out more bike lanes in the CBD in June last year after it received complaints about a lack of kerbside space and interference with truck deliveries.
Ms Capp said the council was eager to hear feedback on the proposed plan from motorists, traders, delivery truck drivers and more.
"We are really looking forward to having them engaged in this discussion so we can actually have the system work at its best and keep our city moving," she said.
The proposal will be considered by councillors at a meeting on March 21.
