Overview
One of the main hindrances of frequenting almost every city in Australia is the traffic, and, therefore, the parking. Well, Melbourne might've just figured out how to remedy (at least half of) the problem.
From today, Monday 3 August, Collins Street is trialling Australia's first precinct-wide valet parking service — the first time this kind of drop-and-go setup has been offered on a retail street anywhere in the country (rather than tied to a single hotel, restaurant or shopping centre).
Here's how it works: pull up to the designated bays outside Novotel Melbourne on Collins (270 Collins Street), hand over your keys for a flat $80 a day, and your car gets parked securely off-site until you're ready to leave — no matter which shop, restaurant or office you're actually there for. It's running seven days a week, and you'll collect your car from the same spot you dropped it.
The pitch is less about luxury and more about removing friction: no circling the block hunting for a space, no cutting a good afternoon short to feed a meter, no long walk back to a car park after dark. If it works, the idea is people simply stay longer — and spend more of that time (and money) across the wider CBD.
The trial sits inside the Collins Street Precinct Group's five-year strategy, and also plugs into the City of Melbourne's Voluntary Co-investment Pilot — a business-improvement-district-style model, similar to ones running in New York, London and Vancouver, where local traders and the council co-fund upgrades beyond what council services already cover. If the valet trial proves itself, Collins Street Precinct Group says the service could expand to multiple drop-off and pick-up points, stretching all the way from Spring Street through to Docklands.
It also puts Melbourne in company with a handful of international strips already running precinct-wide valet, including Austin's Old Sixth Street, Downtown Riverside in California, the Miami Design District and Dubai International Financial Centre.
"Collins Street has so much to offer, and we are continuing to look at ways to make the precinct safer, more accessible and easier to experience," said Collins Street Precinct Group President Luke Harris. "By giving people a simple way to drive in, hand over their keys and have their car returned when they are ready to leave, we hope to remove one of the barriers to spending more time in the precinct and support our local economy."
"For over a century, Collins Street has been home to high-end boutiques and prestige shopping. Now, we're making it even more classy by adding valet parking," said Lord Mayor, Nick Reece. "This is the first time this service has been offered on a retail street in Australia, and it's only fitting that it's kicking off from the Paris End of Collins Street."
For now, the valet trial is a Collins Street-only affair, run out of the one location outside Novotel Melbourne on Collins.
Images: Supplied