New York Remains The Most Expensive City In The World For Parking In

Nov. 16, 2022 2:56 PM ET by Anthony Capretto Industry News / 4 Comments

It now leads the way in two different categories.

To the surprise of basically no one that's ever been there, New York City has once again been named one of the most expensive cities in the world for parking.

This information comes from Parkopedia, which examined data covering over 90 million parking spaces across 20,000 cities in 90 countries. The last time this index was compiled was in 2019, and as we all know, a lot has changed since then. In 2019, the firm found that New York was the most expensive city for two-hour off-street parking, with a $34.94 average.

And that's only gotten worse, with NYC snagging first place for 2022 with an eye-watering $43.10 average. But wait, there's more, as the city took home another award for 2022 as the most expensive city for daily off-street parking at a $52.65 average. Now, if you're driving your brand-new Porsche Taycan to work every day, these numbers probably don't bother you, but for the rest of us, they're less than ideal.

2020-2021 Porsche Taycan 4S Driving Back View

2020-2021 Porsche Taycan 4S Forward Vision

There are many other cities and countries on the list too. Understandably, Amsterdam and the Netherlands as a whole are not parking-friendly. The Netherlands is the most expensive country in the world for monthly off-street parking at a $344.29 average, then Amsterdam comes in as the most expensive city in the world for two-hour on-street parking at a $13.31 average, the second most expensive for monthly off-street parking at $641.77, and third for daily off-street parking with a $47.22 average.

Then there's Australia, which held onto the title of the most expensive country for two-hour off-street parking at a $19.12 average. South Korea is the most expensive for daily on-street parking, with an average of $37.75. Elsewhere, there have just been massive price fluctuations. Russia is the leader in this area, with a 42.7% increase for two-hour off-street parking and a 42.6% increase for daily off-street parking.

US cities consistently rank at the top of the most expensive two-hour off-street price charts, and European cities dominate the most expensive daily-off street parking figures. Parkopedia says this is due to US parking operators charging the majority of the daily parking rate upfront (usually the first two hours), which is uncommon in many other countries.

The company identified three areas that contributed to an increase in parking prices across the board: supply and demand, green initiatives, and rising inflation. COVID-19 had a major impact on many areas of life, and the parking sector is no different as it identified a major switch from public transit to personal vehicles in a 224% increase in car ownership in New York alone in 2021.

We also have to contend with tighter regulations on vehicles, which has led to cities changing roadways to cater more to civilians and bicyclists and even planning to outright ban cars in some places in an attempt to make a city cleaner and greener. And don't forget about rampant inflation, which has also had a massive impact on the car industry.

From the way Parkopedia puts it, it doesn't seem like the problem isn't going to get better, raising concerns about society's mobility in the future. Car companies aren't expecting to sell fewer vehicles in the future, just electric ones, which causes issues in cities that are pushing for fewer vehicles without solid public transit alternatives. It's not as simple as telling people to just ride a bike or take a bus, and we need solutions that will work for everyone. In the meantime, those of us with cars have to find more money to keep them on the road, even if they're just parked up.