At the equivalent of 29 Australian cents an hour, it’s a no brainer; but only if you live in Armenia.
For the rest of us, forking out up to $7.60 an hour for roadside parking in Sydney is enough to make public transport a subsidised health benefit, while even 4000km away in Perth, it’s $2-$5 an hour depending on location.
A global survey by global e-commerce company Picodi.com, found that from a list of 48 counties, the Armenian capital of Yerevan was the cheapest and Greater London, at $15.70 an hour, the most expensive.
There are some bargains in some far-away (from Australia) places, like Buenos Aires at 42c an hour; Minsk (Belarus) at 56c; and Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) at 40c while you’d better load up with coins in New York ($A6.30); Paris ($A9.50); Amsterdam ($A11.90); Tallinn, Estonia ($A9.50); Zurich ($A9.05); and Berlin ($A4.76).
picodi.com also looked at how the inner-city residents – who deserve some discount given they live in the city permanently and pay local taxes – coped with roadside parking.
It found that those in Stockholm coughed up the most – up to $A2075 a year – compared with Sydney residents who buy a resident parking permit for up to $A82.
Live in downtown Riga (Latvia) and you’ll have to pay up to $A1617 a year while in Amsterdam they’ll charge $A900; Paris $A827; London $A374 – in stark contrast to the expensive short-term street parking; and a few coins away from being free, Budapest at $A8.30.
Other on-street parking prices for residents include the free rates charged for those who live close by in six of the 48 cities surveyed. The free parking applies to CBD residents of Lisbon, Rome, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Skopje (Northern Macedonia) and Tirana (Albania).
Free parking may just be a temporary situation as city councils increasingly find ways to boost their coffers.
But at least there is always Yerevan.
Image: Duncan Solutions
By Neil Dowling
