Sydney drivers paying more for fewer parking spaces than the US: report

A new report has revealed that Sydney city parking is more expensive with fewer spaces, as the NRMA backs technology to ease parking pain.

Sydneysiders are paying more money for fewer parking spaces in the CBD than residents of five similar cities in the United States.

A NRMA study conducted with Bitzios Consulting found the number of parking spaces has plummeted by 47 per cent in the last seven years from 209 spaces per 1000 employees to 142 spaces per thousand.

And those lucky enough to find a parking spot are paying more. Parking in the city costs a median price of US$60 per day – 36 per cent more than drivers in Boston which is the second most expensive city in the report.

The number of parking spaces in Sydney has plummeted by 47 per cent in the last seven years, the survey found.

A parking ranger booking an illegally parked car in La Perouse. Picture: Adam Yip

Since 2014, parking availability has dropped from about 52,500 spaces to 45,400.

The findings come ahead of the NSW government’s Parking Summit to be held in Casula today.

The summit is designed to drive ideas about how parking problems can be fixed, with technology set to play a large factor in any new initiatives.

The NRMA report compared Sydney with cities of similar size and population in the US to see how drivers in the CBD fare when looking for a park.

Compared with Sydney’s 142 parking spaces for every 1000 employees, San Francisco had 180 spaces per 1000 workers while San Diego had 542 spaces per 1000.

In the city centre, there are 8.2 workers for every parking space, excluding on-street parking.

Sean Connolly-Greig is seen at a parking station. Picture: Gaye Gerard

NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said the joint NRMA Bitzios report demonstrated the need for urgent reform to make parking more affordable and easier to find.

“This report clearly demonstrates that the parking situation in Sydney has not improved and we need to take smart but necessary steps now to address this challenge,” he said.

Mr Khoury backed innovations like “real-time data” to give drivers a better parking experience.

“The NRMA is today backing efforts by the NSW Government to introduce compulsory real-time data for every private and council-held parking space across NSW — backed up by legislation — and readily available through the NSW Government’s Park ‘n’ Pay app and the myNRMA app,” he said.

“We know using innovation and technology to bring about meaningful change for the community works because we have seen the positive effects of real-time data in the petrol industry.

Lane Cove resident Sean Connolly-Greig said he was lucky to find a parking spot on a family trip to The Rocks yesterday. He said it was “typically … very difficult on the weekends”.

Mr Connolly-Greig drives into the city for work, where he has an office car park.

He said businesses should be able to open their car parks on weekends to provide more parking when there were “thousands of car spaces in the city sitting there empty.”

Read the NRMA/Bitzios Consultingreport here.