Finding a street parking spot in Cape Town is a rarity during the week. When you do eventually find a place to park – often no where close to your destination – you’re then required to fork out a hefty sum.
Contrary to what we believe, a new study has found that the Mother City is one of the cheapest cities to park in. Cape Town ranks number 63 out of 65 for parking prices worldwide. Shocking, we know.
Data shows the differences in parking costs around the world, as well as the amount of City Council Parking Revenue lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- New York, USA has the highest parking prices in the world costing +354.75% more than the global median price, followed by Boston, USA (+282.85%) and Sydney, Australia (+210.98%).
- Delhi, India has the most affordable parking, costing -210.98%% less than the global median, followed by Buenos Aires, Argentina (-79.96%) and Cape Town, South Africa (-77.60%).
- Cities like London, New York and Melbourne stand to lose millions of dollars in parking revenue in 2020 due to restricted movement during the pandemic.
Fixter began the study earlier this year to investigate the differences in costs that drivers in the UK and around the world incur when parking in major city centres. As the COVID-19 crisis unfolded, however, it became clear that practices like remote working and social distancing would mean far fewer cars on the road.
While a marked reduction in pollution has been a huge boon for the environment, many city councils face a great loss of income from the reduction in parking revenue. The results show that major hubs like Chicago for example, who rely on this revenue to fund public services, stand to lose an estimated $180-million due to the pandemic.
As restrictions ease and movements increase, cities and drivers everywhere now have an opportunity to reassess how things have been done in the past. With many countries already having considered car bans in major city centres before the pandemic, and alternative means of transport like cycling becoming increasingly popular, city councils around the world will need to rethink their parking cost strategies.
While these developments are a positive trend for city commuters, it is reasonable to believe that parking costs will remain high for the foreseeable future. With this in mind, Fixter has released the 2020 Parking Price Index which reveals the differences in the cost of parking in cities around the world.
“Sky-high parking prices have been the bane of many a city driver for a long time now, and look unlikely to change any time in the near future even with the steep reduction of movement during the pandemic. One of the interesting things we found out through this study is just how much city councils in the US and around the world collect in revenue from parking, and how much they will have lost during the lockdown period,” says Limvirak Chea, CEO at Fixter.
“The results paint a very interesting picture as the price of parking differs hugely depending on location. In London parking for three hours at the City Hall will cost you $13.01, while in New York it’s a whopping $25.00, and in Paris, it’s $3.28. These vast differences between major cities raise an important question: Why is parking so expensive in certain cities compared to others? It is our hope that by putting these prices together in a side-by-side comparison, the results of the study can help add to the discussion around the prohibitive prices of city parking.”
Image: Unsplash
