Auckland Transport says hiking parking fees is the only way to deter some people from breaking the rules.

The council-owned agency has asked the Ministry of Transport for permission to increase fees to bring them in line with Australian cities.

Central Auckland residents could be charged to park on their own street to cover the cost of stopping others from parking there instead.

Parking services manager Russell Derecourt told Newstalk ZB the fine needs to match the offence.

"If you park for an hour in some of the off-street parks in Auckland it costs you exactly what it costs you if you park on an infringement notice."

Central Auckland residents could be charged to park on their own street to cover the cost of stopping others from parking there instead.

Derecourt said the council will cover the cost by charging for residential parking permits.

"We are talking about a whole raft of new zones across the inner city fringe where today that enforcement presence isn't there." 

Auckland's Park and Ride facilities are also in for an overhaul as part of a new push to get commuters out of their cars.

Auckland Transport has outlined long-term plans to add thousands of new parking bays, and in some cases, introduce a 'peppercorn' charge for Park and Ride users.

Jon Reeves from the Public Transport Users Association is broadly supportive.

"If the amount is quite low. I mean you're talking one or two dollars a day or what have you then it's not really much of a disincentive."

But the AA's Barney Irvine is convinced a charge is counterproductive.

"It might work in an economist's dream world, but in the real world it's only going to get people off the bus and in to cars."

Irvine is concerned this is simply a practice it looks like revenue gathering.

"People are paying a huge amount in fines already, upwards of $10 million a year and our sense is that a lot of the time this is a result of honest mistakes rather than people deliberately breaking the law."

Three things you need to know

• Auckland Transport is trying to get Government permission to hike parking fees. The agency says there needs to be greater deterrents for rule-breakers, but the AA reckons it's revenue-gathering.

• New restrictions are being rolled out to stop commuters parking in central suburbs, and to charge residents for parking permits. Freemans Bay Residents' Association co-chair Lynne Butler hopes it will allow older people and those with young families to park closer to their homes.

• Auckland Transport will build new Park-and-Ride spaces and start charging for them. The Public Transport Users Association reckons it will get more people on buses and trains, but the AA isn't convinced.

Check out Auckland Transport's full strategy here.