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Parking costs make motorcycling attractive

Parking squeeze costs

Australian car parking costs, which are among the highest in the world, should make motorcycling more attractive as bike parking is often free or discounted.

The 2020 Parking Price Index of car parking costs in 65 major cities shows Sydney in third place only behind New York and Boston.

Brisbane was in fifth place, Melbourne 18th and Perth 39th with no mention of Canberra, Adelaide or Hobart.

Sydney’s shopping district car parks were a whopping 498% higher than the median for the 65 cities listed.

With the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries promoting their fourth Ride to Work Week in September 2020, free and cheap parking should be a highlight of their promotions through the official website and social media.

Parking anomalies

UK car maintenance service Fixter did not consider motorcycle parking prices in their survey because many cities allow motorcycles to park free or at substantially discounted prices.

However, there are a few anomalies in Australia where motorcycle riders are being ripped off as they are charged the same price as cars.

Several years ago we pointed out that some hotels and casinos charge motorcycles and scooters the same parking rate as cars, even though the space is smaller or car bays can be shared with multiple bikes.

Parking squeeze
Four bikes in one car bay

Also, Melbourne airport, which charges 68.78% above the median price, has no discount for motorcycles.

Meanwhile, Sydney has free parking for motorcycles at the domestic and International airports and Brisbane offers a discount of $10/day for up to seven days then $5/day.

Parking costs ranking

1

New York

US

2

Boston

US

3

Sydney

Australia

4

London

UK

5

Brisbane

Australia

6

Philadelphia

US

7

Chicago

US

8

Minneapolis

US

9

San Francisco

US

10

Washington

US

11

Miami

US

12

Seattle

US

13

Leeds

UK

14

Detroit

US

15

Oslo

Norway

16

Amsterdam

Netherlands

17

Los Angeles

US

18

Melbourne

Australia

19

Liverpool

UK

20

Manchester

UK

21

Montreal

Canada

22

San Diego

US

23

Edinburgh

UK

24

Birmingham

UK

25

Toronto

Canada

26

Atlanta

US

27

Calgary

Canada

28

Stockholm

Sweden

29

Glasgow

UK

30

Copenhagen

Denmark

31

Utrecht

Netherlands

32

Paris

France

33

Ottawa

Canada

34

Cardiff

UK

35

Tokyo

Japan

36

Vancouver

Canada

37

Sheffield

UK

38

Zurich

Switzerland

39

Perth

Australia

40

Dublin

Ireland

41

Sao Paulo

Brazil

42

Frankfurt

Germany

43

Rome

Italy

44

Moscow

Russia

45

Dallas

US

46

Honululu

US

47

Basel

Switzerland

48

Geneva

Switzerland

49

Auckland

New Zealand

50

Madrid

Spain

51

Hong Kong

Hong Kong

52

Berlin

Germany

53

Belfast

UK

54

Warsaw

Poland

55

Istanbul

Turkey

56

Bogota

Colombia

57

Singapore

Singapore

58

Dubai

UAE

59

Mexico City

Mexico

60

Shanghai

China

61

Beijing

China

62

Mumbai

India

63

Cape Town

South Africa

64

Buenos Aires

Argentina

65

Delhi

India