A new study has named Sydney the worst Aussie city to park in, thanks to its average price of $32 an hour and lack of parking choices. Brisbane and Melbourne weren’t much better, and the cheapest rate is in Ballarat at just $3 an hour. 

The research by insurance company iSelect gave cities around the world a mark out of 100 according to the quantity and quality of their parking spaces in and around the city centre, and the average hourly cost of a stay. 

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Sydney, in addition to that sky-high cost, was found to have just 156 parking locations near its CBD, leaving it with the second-fewest choices in the country. Combine those with the fact its parking areas get a very low average user rating of just 2.95 out of five – the third-worst mark in the country – and the harbour city gets a score of just 1.4 out of 100.

Brisbane, at 6.4 out of 100, was the second-worst location. It has just 240 parking locations within 2km of the CBD, an average cost of $29.71 an hour, and the second-lowest rating from motorists of just 2.91. 

Melbourne fares better with a score of 26.9, but it’s still the third-worst spot for parkers in the nation. While it has plenty of facilities close to the city – 687 of them, topped only by Adelaide – its spots have the lowest user rating down under, and cost an average of $21.88 an hour.

On the flip side, Toowoomba got Australia’s best score of 81.9 with its average hourly cost of $5.65, 224 locations near the city centre, and a user rating of 4.42. Ballarat comes in just behind on 75.1, but has the cheapest parking price in the country at $3 an hour.

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The Victorian town is followed by Cairns (71), Wollongong (68.6), Darwin (67.4) and Townsville (65.0). Toowoomba’s score puts it ahead of the best parking location in Europe, the Polish city of Krakow, on 8.18.

Parking horror spots internationally include Europe’s worst location, London, on 14.1 thanks in no small part to its hourly cost of $26.51. And you’ll want to avoid looking for a spot in the lowest-scoring city in the USA, New York, on 12.8 with an average cost of $50.69 per hour.