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A recent report has revealed that Sydney residents are paying a “ridiculous” amount for parking, with the number being around $20 higher than other Australian cities.
According to the NRMA’s Parkin’ Mad report, all-day parking is costing Sydneysiders around $81 per day. In comparison, parking in Melbourne and Brisbane is just $62 and $60, respectively. The number is even worse when compared to US cities like Seattle, where the cost of all-day parking is a mere $37.
The report also found that since 2016, while disposable income has fallen about 13 percent, parking costs have risen by about 9 percent in Sydney.
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said something needed to be done to address the increased costs combined with plummeting disposable incomes and available car spaces per capita.
“Sydney’s daily parking fees are hitting ridiculous heights at a time when family budgets are stretched and Sydneysiders can afford it least,” Khoury said.
Parking rises as income falls
“Parking costs continue to spike in Sydney at the same time disposable incomes are falling and we know this imbalance is increasingly unsustainable.
Paul Nicolau, executive director of Business Sydney, said he hoped that the report would lead to “proper solutions”.
“There is no doubt that three words sum up Sydney’s parking dilemma – it is expensive, scarce and fragmented,” Nicolaou said.
The report also found Parramatta in Sydney’s west had lost about 2000 parking spaces in the last five years following the closure of three multistorey carparks.
Spokesperson for Roads, Minister Jenny Aitchison, said the government didn’t have control over the price of casual parking in the Sydney CBD.
“The government has reformed a range of parking rules to increase fairness and transparency for motorists right across Sydney, including making it fairer and easier for visitors to access parking at beachside suburbs and changing council-run two-tiered beach carparking schemes that favour homeowners over renters,” the spokesperson said.
