Helping to make drivers' MOT, car service and repairs easier is what we're all about at Fixter. We began a study earlier this year to look into one of the most frustrating issues for drivers in the UK and around the world: high parking costs. 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. Major hubs like London who rely on this revenue to fund public services stand to lose an estimated 449 million pounds due to the pandemic.*
As restrictions ease and movements increase, cities and drivers everywhere now have an opportunity 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 re-think their parking cost strategies. While these developments are a positive trend for commuters, it is reasonable to believe that parking costs will remain high for the foreseeable future. With this in mind, we decided to release our 2020 Parking Price Index which reveals the differences in the cost of parking around the world.
We began the index by first considering all of the major locations from our first-hand experience that charge the highest parking prices, as well as those which we regularly drive to. The sites which first came to mind are the places where you drop loved ones off or pick them up, namely airports. Next, we considered shopping districts looking at both car parks and street parking, as well as sporting stadiums.
Finally, we found the parking cost at each location's city hall, as they are generally located the centre of town, where parking costs can be at a premium. Recording the average price per hour to park in each of these spots for 65 locations, we were then able to see which cities pay the most and least for parking, as well as how high or low the price is compared to the global median. The final index is ranked by the average deviation of the price to park in all of these locations across a city, from highest to lowest.
Below you can find the full results. Each column is filterable from highest to lowest. The complete methodology can be found at the bottom of the page.
*The Greater London boroughs collected a total of £727,960,000 in parking revenue in 2019, with a surplus of £454,417,000 after expenses. With an expected 61.67% reduction in revenue due to the COVID19 lockdown, the total surplus for 2020 is estimated to be £5,508,333. A shortfall of £448,908,667.
The expected shortfall for parking income among metropolitan areas in the UK:
- Manchester £18,021,000
- Edinburgh £22,647,371
- Birmingham £13,586,000
- Glasgow £14,931,536
- Liverpool £7,119,000
- Cardiff £7,691,000
- Leeds £6,488,000
- Sheffield £3,623,000
- Belfast £1,014,445
