A Parking Space Levy: A Case Study of Sydney, Australia

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter provides a case study of the implementation of the Parking Space Levy (PSL) in Sydney, Australia. Introduced by the Parking Space Levy Act 1992, the scheme places a levy on business use of off-street car parking spaces with the revenues from the levy being hypothecated to public transport improvements. The chapter outlines the implementation of what is now a relatively mature scheme and examines how the revenues raised by the scheme have been spent.

Methodology/approach

This chapter offers a review of the introduction of the levy in Sydney and explores its impact in implementation with respect to changes to the number of parking spaces and an analysis of the way in which the hypothecated revenue has been spent. The implementation of the PSL is evaluated against the literature on hypothecation of funds and includes a discussion of policy issues for Sydney in the light of the evidence presented.

Findings

Whilst off-street parking availability is a major contributor to peak period traffic, the implementation of the PSL as a single rate of application has not led to a decrease in total number of available parking places in the City of Sydney. The number of concessions for unused spaces, whereby the levy was not imposed, increased when the levy rate was doubled in 2009 although this was accompanied by a fall in the number of exemptions from the levy. The revenue from the PSL has been dedicated to improvements in public transport infrastructure, primarily interchanges and commuter car parks although the more recent provisions to spend on ‘soft’ measures to improve sustainable travel have not been taken up.

Practical implications

Whilst a stated objective of the PSL was to reduce congestion, the chapter concludes that the PSL had more than this single objective which makes it more difficult to assess whether its implementation has been a success.

Originality/value of chapter

This chapter provides an overview of the introduction, implementation and outcomes of the PSL in Sydney, relating it to the PSL in Melbourne (Chapter 13) and the WPL in Nottingham (Chapter 15). No other study to date evaluated the PSL in Sydney against the literature relating to hypothecation nor tracked the impacts of implementation of the PSL to evaluate its success.

Citation

Ison, S., Mulley, C., Mifsud, A. and Ho, C. (2014), "A Parking Space Levy: A Case Study of Sydney, Australia", Parking Issues and Policies (Transport and Sustainability, Vol. 5), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 317-333. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2044-994120140000005023