Sydney global leader in massive parking fees

Sydney drivers are being slugged with some of the most expensive parking fees in the world. See how our city compares to other cities globally.

Sydney drivers are being slugged with some of the most expensive parking fees in the world, far outstripping major global cities and all other states across the country.

The cost of parking in Sydney’s CBD is double that of those in San Diego, Seattle and San Francisco, according to exclusive research by NRMA and Bitzios Consulting.

The findings have spurred business leaders to call for parking fee caps, saying the high costs punish workers and residents at the meter and discourage access to the city’s centre.

The Parkin’ Mad report, released today compared Sydney’s parking prices to comparable sized US cities, with similar population and density levels.

While the average all-day parking fee around Sydney CBD is $77.30, the equivalent to $US51, drivers in San Francisco pay around $US27, while drivers in Boston pay around $US30.

Seattle drivers pay way less to park than Sydneysiders. Photo: istock

Sydneysiders also fork out far more than every other Australian, with all-day parking fees in Melbourne and Brisbane, averaging around $60 per day, the equivalent of nearly $US40.

Drivers in bigger cities such as London can find parking around Kensington fore more than 4.90 pounds an hour ($10), while in Hong Kong, parking in the CBD can cost upwards of $HK13 ($2.60) per hour.

San Francisco drivers pay half as much for parking as Sydneysiders.

The report found that Sydney’s daily parking costs of both on-street and private parking stations was 20 per cent higher than it should be, considering the city’s size and its affordability.

While Sydney’s parking fees have increased by nine per cent in real terms since 2016, families have less cash in their pockets with disposable income falling by 13 per cent over the same period.

Sydneysiders pay twice as much as San Diego residents to park their car.

The Daily Telegraph revealed in January that City of Sydney council was raking in millions of dollars from parking meters each year, with some of the highest earning meters raking in more than $180,000 each last financial year.

Melbourne averages $60 a day for parking whereas Sydney averages a whopping $77.30. Picture: Getty Images

NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said part of the reason parking prices had risen to unreasonable levels was due to policies decreasing the number of available parking spots.

“It’s a culmination of a number of things: construction and rezoning, the building of cycle paths and building shared paths has seen a lot of parking lost in recent years,” he said.

“Less parking options is obviously going to increase costs.”

He said the continued reduction of on-street parking meant more people needed to rely on expensive parking stations and called on the government to set a cap on parking fees.

The report also recommended a unified, statewide app to track in real-time parking spots and prices.

Available parking in Sydney CBD fell from a ratio of 0.21 spaces per employee in 2014 to just 0.14 spaces in 2023.

A spokesperson for Lord Mayor Clover Moore said she encouraged people to travel by public transport or bicycle. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

A spokesperson for Lord Mayor Clover Moore said she encouraged people instead to travel by public, transport or bicycle.

“We have managed a minor decline in on-street parking to make way for more productive uses, like public domain improvements like footpaths and cycleways,” the spokesperson said.

Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou called Sydney’s parking fees “expensive, scarce and fragmented”.

“The more that Sydneysiders have to spend on parking leaves less income to spend on the economy and that hits the hospitality, retail and tourism sectors very hard,” he said.

Business Sydney contributed to the NRMA report.

Locals and visitors alike said the parking prices across Sydney were staggering. Young 27-year-old couple Glenn Mackrell and Agathe Brise were visiting Sydney in preparation for a permanent move from the Sunshine Coast. In their two days in Sydney they had already spent over $100 in parking fees around the city.

Agathe Brise, (27) and Glenn Mackrell, (27) paid $9 an hour for parking near Sydney’s Botanical Gardens. Picture: Richard Dobson

Ms Brise, who comes from France, said she felt the fees were more expensive in Sydney.

“In many places for an hour you can pay three or four euros,” she said.

“It’s so expensive here.”

A spokesperson for Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison said while the NSW government did not regulate the price of casual parking in Sydney’s CBD, they were consulting on reforms to “increase fairness and transparency for motorists”.

The Government is currently consulting with councils and parking authorities to prevent fees and surcharges being applied to paid parking through apps and online parking platforms.

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